Week 33 - WTA125 Chicago, USA Hard

PaulM · Tennis legend

Week 33 - WTA125 Chicago, USA Hard

briteny · Intermediate Club Player

Fantastic game! Well done ! One more match Emma! And then she should rest and prepare for US open

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

Come on !

Strange match. Looked like the conditions might have been challenging. Both players struggled to hold serve.

Both players had good spells and not so good spells. Lots of super shots and plenty of horrible errors.

A slow start from Emma, down *0-3 with Claire having 4 aces by that stage. Then 4 games for Raducanu, followed by a rubbish service game, broken to love. Emma finished the tiebreak strongly.

Emma played lots of good tennis in the 2nd set but too many careless errors cost her games she had numerous chances to win.

In the 3rd set Claire made tons of errors in the opening four games.

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

kundalini wrote:
Come on !

Strange match. Looked like the conditions might have been challenging. Both players struggled to hold serve.

Both players had good spells and not so good spells. Lots of super shots and plenty of horrible errors.

A slow start from Emma, down *0-3 with Claire having 4 aces by that stage. Then 4 games for Raducanu, followed by a rubbish service game, broken to love. Emma finished the tiebreak strongly.

Emma played lots of good tennis in the 2nd set but too many careless errors cost her games she had numerous chances to win.

In the 3rd set Claire made tons of errors in the opening four games.

Thanks. It sounds like a typical match at that level. I guess the question being whether Emma can show the consistency that it'll take to move up that level.

Do uso qualies start on Monday? That seems like no turnaround time at all!

the addict · Tennis legend

USO qualies start on Tuesday

indiana · Tennis legend

Super stuff !!

Now W6 L1 in TBs this summer, having won all 6 first set TBs she has played, although in the other 5 she went on to win in straight sets. A very useful habit and again shows good matchplay qualities.

And really interesting that Emma will have her first final at such a level vs her contemporary and former junior adversary, Clara Tauson, having gone their different ways the last year or two.

Emma will now move just ahead of Harriet so will be ranked GB #3 on Monday, and live-tennis shows her now as live ranked 150.

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 21st of August 2021 10:20:20 PM

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

indiana wrote:
Super stuff !!
Now W6 L1 in TBs this summer, having won all 6 first set TBs she has played, although in the other 5 she went on to win in straight sets. A very useful habit and again shows good matchplay qualities.

And really interesting that Emma will have her first final at such a level vs her contemporary and former junior adversary, Clara Tauson, having gone their different ways the last year or two.
Emma will now move just ahead of Harriet so will be ranked GB #3 on Monday, and live-tennis shows her now as live ranked 150.

Tennis Abstract have Emma at 137 in their Elo rankings, at the beginning of this week. Harriet 135, Fran Jones 183, Heather 126, Katie Boulter 60 (surprising), Jo Konta 39. Elo rankings relate to the quality of the opponents you play, as opposed to the round of the draw.

On their yElo ranking, which only takes into consideration matches in 2021, again not updated for this week's results, Jo Konta 30, Katie Boulter 45 (again seems on the high side, I guess Katie has lost to some very good players), Emma 54, Harriet 103, Fran Jones 150, Heather 182, and Jule Niemeier 65, Claire Liu 67, Clara Burel 56, Alison van Uytvanck 59.

dodrade · Futures qualifying

indiana wrote:
Super stuff !!
Now W6 L1 in TBs this summer, having won all 6 first set TBs she has played, although in the other 5 she went on to win in straight sets. A very useful habit and again shows good matchplay qualities.

And really interesting that Emma will have her first final at such a level vs her contemporary and former junior adversary, Clara Tauson, having gone their different ways the last year or two.
Emma will now move just ahead of Harriet so will be ranked GB #3 on Monday, and live-tennis shows her now as live ranked 150.

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 21st of August 2021 10:20:20 PM

Will she have anything left in the tank for the final/US Open qualifying though?

indiana · Tennis legend

dodrade wrote:
indiana wrote:
Super stuff !!
Now W6 L1 in TBs this summer, having won all 6 first set TBs she has played, although in the other 5 she went on to win in straight sets. A very useful habit and again shows good matchplay qualities.

And really interesting that Emma will have her first final at such a level vs her contemporary and former junior adversary, Clara Tauson, having gone their different ways the last year or two.
Emma will now move just ahead of Harriet so will be ranked GB #3 on Monday, and live-tennis shows her now as live ranked 150.

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 21st of August 2021 10:20:20 PM
Will she have anything left in the tank for the final/US Open qualifying though?

If she does she does. If she doesn't she doesn't. It's all discovery time, probably not least to herself. Enjoy!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

For many players, the grand slam qualis are pretty much life and death in terms of financial security.

The money there dwarfs other events.

However, Emma's not one of those players. She's receiving top LTA support. And will do so for years.

Far better for her to have made the final (and maybe win the final) of a WTA event.

She may do well in qualis next week too. (Hope so) Or not. It doesn't really matter.

The learning experience of what she's done this week is huge, especially for some one (poor girl) who's going to have that panic attack round her neck like an albatross for ages (when it might be the only time it's ever happened, connected to something else as well, no real different from how other players suddenly tighten up and can't play, whatever, and even if not, well, it's something she'll be working on, like her volleys, all part of the big package).

I'm hoping her and Clara will be names we'll be seeing on the big stage for many years to come.

They're both the same age, lovely characters, perfect for the next Gen. The fact that Clara has squeaked into the MD at the US Open and Emma is outside is just how the cards fell this year, given Emma's lack of traveling to play ranking events (which shows sense). Things will look very different next year.

flamingowings · All-time great

It's a shame the WTA appear to have an equivalent to the ATP next gen final.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

flamingowings wrote:
It's a shame the WTA appear to have an equivalent to the ATP next gen final.

I guess the meaningless Elite finals was their equivalent, which to me is a pointless event. On the Atp side we previously had the Challenger Tour finals which I thought was a good concept but never worked- partly due to location, in South America , and partly that the qualified players often didnt play - both of those things possibly linked but also many who did qualify by that time where playing main tour and had moved on career wise. The Next Gen is agnostic of that and works well location, field and in terms of showcasing new concepts such as scoring ideas.

flamingowings · All-time great

JonH comes home wrote:
flamingowings wrote:
It's a shame the WTA appear to have an equivalent to the ATP next gen final.
I guess the meaningless Elite finals was their equivalent, which to me is a pointless event. On the Atp side we previously had the Challenger Tour finals which I thought was a good concept but never worked- partly due to location, in South America , and partly that the qualified players often didnt play - both of those things possibly linked but also many who did qualify by that time where playing main tour and had moved on career wise. The Next Gen is agnostic of that and works well location, field and in terms of showcasing new concepts such as scoring ideas.

Wasn't the elite just the players who didn't quite make it to the final? It's not quite the same. I think the next gen thing is quite a good concept and yes, based in Europe rather than money making but soulless Asia

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

flamingowings wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
flamingowings wrote:
It's a shame the WTA appear to have an equivalent to the ATP next gen final.
I guess the meaningless Elite finals was their equivalent, which to me is a pointless event. On the Atp side we previously had the Challenger Tour finals which I thought was a good concept but never worked- partly due to location, in South America , and partly that the qualified players often didnt play - both of those things possibly linked but also many who did qualify by that time where playing main tour and had moved on career wise. The Next Gen is agnostic of that and works well location, field and in terms of showcasing new concepts such as scoring ideas.
Wasn't the elite just the players who didn't quite make it to the final? It's not quite the same. I think the next gen thing is quite a good concept and yes, based in Europe rather than money making but soulless Asia

Agreed / elite was the wooden spoon event and surely just about money!

Priesty · Challenger level

Great week for Emma! Bringing back happy memories for me of Andy having a good US hard court swing after getting to the 3R of Wimbledon in '05.

Chances are she'll be spent for the US Open qualifiers, but hey, the Open will be there next year and I'd be surprised if she has to qualify for that one. Get the wins and points in while you can.