Week 43 - WTA 250 - Cluj-Napoca, Romania Hard

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Week 43 - WTA 250 - Cluj-Napoca, Romania Hard

Jan · Hall of fame

Well done Emma

Priesty · Challenger level

Having to fight back from a set down wasn't a situation she was faced with at the Slams (except against Alja but I don't feel that you can properly count that one) so a great effort to guts it out today especially against someone of Polona's experience.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Coup Droit wrote:
Good match. For many reasons. Enjoyed it. All about getting the balance right. Not easy.

I didn't enjoy all of it LOL, but the 3rd set was OK. Well done Ems, so pleased and relieved for her.

dodrade · Futures qualifying

nicofrance wrote:
This is a huge result for Raducanu . The pressure would really have built on her if she had lost the match and it must be a huge relief to get through the match and more impressive is she had to battle hard in the second set which she could easily have lost . Sometimes this type of match does more for your confidence than an easy win given how much pressure she must have felt .

On paper R1 in an end of season 250 doesn't matter much but the naysayers would have jumped on her immediately had she lost (biggest fluke slam winner ever etc) so really pleased she came through. Hopefully she can relax a bit more for the next match and adjust to the slow courts.

nicofrance · Strong Club Player

dodrade wrote:
nicofrance wrote:
This is a huge result for Raducanu . The pressure would really have built on her if she had lost the match and it must be a huge relief to get through the match and more impressive is she had to battle hard in the second set which she could easily have lost . Sometimes this type of match does more for your confidence than an easy win given how much pressure she must have felt .
On paper R1 in an end of season 250 doesn't matter much but the naysayers would have jumped on her immediately had she lost (biggest fluke slam winner ever etc) so really pleased she came through. Hopefully she can relax a bit more for the next match and adjust to the slow courts.

Youve hit the nail on the head . For me this was a big win because of the pressure she was under and the fact this is her first WTA tour win .

cya · Strong Club Player

Very nice that she did most of the post match interview in the native language too! Shame there was no crowd.

GAMEOVER · Satellite level

Priesty wrote:
GAMEOVER wrote:
dodrade wrote:
Peter too wrote:
R1: RADUCANU, Emma (GBR) 3 24 (CH=22 2021) v HERCOG, Polonia (SLO) 123 (CH=35 2011)
If matches go to form Emma should meet Bogdan in R2, 6th seed Kostyuk in the QF and Halep in the SF.

-- Edited by Peter too on Sunday 24th of October 2021 12:16:56 AM
After Indian Wells I'm taking everything one match at a time.
However hope Emma will beat Hercog for her first win on the main WTA tour.( not counting Grand Slams.) Hercog has not beaten anybody in the top 100 since beating Garcia and the now retired Bertens in Paris. She was one of Coco Gauff's victims on Gauff's Wimbledon debut in 2019.
Didn't know Bertens had retired. How did I miss that one?

Reported on tennis forum that Kiki Bertens is expecting a baby in April 2022.

indiana · Tennis legend

OK, effectively I think this match / this tournament in no way should be huge for Emma in anything like the grand scheme of things. But I do see the point that if enough media, folk within tennis, folk following tennis etc make out that it is somehow soo important then I guess it could unfortunately become self fulfilling and the best way for poor Emma then to quieten the unnecessary noise is to go out on court and play good winning tennis.

Whatever, good that she got that win and evidently played some pretty decent tennis.

GBJ · Club Coach

Really good to see for all the reasons stated above. I'm really interested in the way she goes on these runs of games - just from reading about it it looks like from late in the second she did what she did from the start of several USO matches and some at Wimbledon too I think i.e. fight out some tough close games then turn that into a big 'Raducanu run' of games that totally swings the match in her favour (she seems to do this by keeping agressive but cutting out errors?! - maybe the fights helps her reach a greater focus level? other's insights on this appreciated!)

Also fun to read her comments in the beeb report that she was 'on a losing streak' - not sure one match counts but after 20 sets won then almost losing the next 4 I guess it feels that way. Now she's on a streak of 2 sets lol!

Strongbow · All-time great

indiana wrote:
OK, effectively I think this match / this tournament in no way should be huge for Emma in anything like the grand scheme of things. But I do see the point that if enough media, folk within tennis, folk following tennis etc make out that it is somehow soo important then I guess it could unfortunately become self fulfilling and the best way for poor Emma then to quieten the unnecessary noise is to go out on court and play good winning tennis.

Whatever, good that she got that win and evidently played some pretty decent tennis.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/59056649

Brave new world - also so is not liike to. wink

dodrade · Futures qualifying

cya wrote:
Very nice that she did most of the post match interview in the native language too! Shame there was no crowd.

Even when the questions were put to her in English. Clearly wants to make a good impression here for Dad and Granny's sake.

Making the front page of the Daily Mail for a R1 regular tour win abroad must be a first for any British tennis player, wider public interest in her must still be high

-- Edited by dodrade on Wednesday 27th of October 2021 12:47:38 AM

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

GBJ wrote:
Really good to see for all the reasons stated above. I'm really interested in the way she goes on these runs of games - just from reading about it it looks like from late in the second she did what she did from the start of several USO matches and some at Wimbledon too I think i.e. fight out some tough close games then turn that into a big 'Raducanu run' of games that totally swings the match in her favour (she seems to do this by keeping agressive but cutting out errors?! - maybe the fights helps her reach a greater focus level? other's insights on this appreciated!)

Also fun to read her comments in the beeb report that she was 'on a losing streak' - not sure one match counts but after 20 sets won then almost losing the next 4 I guess it feels that way. Now she's on a streak of 2 sets lol!

I suspect the main secret ingredient to these "Raducanu runs" is getting returns in play, especially those that aren't open invitations to attack. From 5-5 in the 2nd set to 5-0* in the 3rd, Hercog got 3 unreturned serves (2 first and 1 second). In her previous three service games Polona had 5 unreturned and 1 ace. In Hercog's final game of the first set and then next two service games in the 2nd set, she had 9 unreturned serves (6 first and 3 second).

On Emma's service games during the run, the key was 18 first serves, only 4 second serves. Compare that to landing only one first serve when broken to love for 4-3* in the first set, followed by 3 first serves out of 6 as she was broken again.

Even during the run, Raducanu made a few awful errors, though probably less than during other stages in the match; certainly far fewer than in her rubbish spell in the opening set.

If you remember the matches against Shelby Rogers and Maria Sakkari at the US Open, there was a lot of criticism of their respective performances but if you had watched their previous matches against Ash Barty and Pliskova, a clear difference was that their serves were being returned deep inside the court. It would appear that the relentlessness of Emma's returning puts a lot of mental strain on opposing players.

In the Hercog match, there were 6 breaks of serve, four to Emma and two to Polona. All six break points won by the returner were due to unforced errors ( 5 forehands 1 smash) by the server.

-- Edited by kundalini on Wednesday 27th of October 2021 05:42:14 AM

GBJ · Club Coach

kundalini wrote:
GBJ wrote:
Really good to see for all the reasons stated above. I'm really interested in the way she goes on these runs of games - just from reading about it it looks like from late in the second she did what she did from the start of several USO matches and some at Wimbledon too I think i.e. fight out some tough close games then turn that into a big 'Raducanu run' of games that totally swings the match in her favour (she seems to do this by keeping agressive but cutting out errors?! - maybe the fights helps her reach a greater focus level? other's insights on this appreciated!)

Also fun to read her comments in the beeb report that she was 'on a losing streak' - not sure one match counts but after 20 sets won then almost losing the next 4 I guess it feels that way. Now she's on a streak of 2 sets lol!
I suspect the main secret ingredient to these "Raducanu runs" is getting returns in play, especially those that aren't open invitations to attack. From 5-5 in the 2nd set to 5-0* in the 3rd, Hercog got 3 unreturned serves (2 first and 1 second). In her previous three service games Polona had 5 unreturned and 1 ace. In Hercog's final game of the first set and then next two service games in the 2nd set, she had 9 unreturned serves (6 first and 3 second).
On Emma's service games during the run, the key was 18 first serves, only 4 second serves. Compare that to landing only one first serve when broken to love for 4-3* in the first set, followed by 3 first serves out of 6 as she was broken again.
Even during the run, Raducanu made a few awful errors, though probably less than during other stages in the match; certainly far fewer than in her rubbish spell in the opening set.
If you remember the matches against Shelby Rogers and Maria Sakkari at the US Open, there was a lot of criticism of their respective performances but if you had watched their previous matches against Ash Barty and Pliskova, a clear difference was that their serves were being returned deep inside the court. It would appear that the relentlessness of Emma's returning puts a lot of mental strain on opposing players.
In the Hercog match, there were 6 breaks of serve, four to Emma and two to Polona. All six break points won by the returner were due to unforced errors ( 5 forehands 1 smash) by the server.

-- Edited by kundalini on Wednesday 27th of October 2021 05:42:14 AM

And all that just straight from your head after watching?! Lol! I love delving deep into stats. Good research Kundulanu! (Mistyped your name, sorry, but kept it cos the typo works here I think - esp this week!)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, I thought the return of serve was the most obvious difference from the US Open matches. (Although it was just eye-balling it, no stats)

But I put that down in a large part to the court.

It's so very slow, and 'sticky', the ball doesn't come through very well.