Week 9 - WTA 250 - ATX Open - Austin, TX, USA (outdoor hard)

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Week 9 - WTA 250 - ATX Open - Austin, TX, USA (outdoor hard)

indiana · Tennis legend

I'd be more optimistic about Jodie. Since about halfway through last season her mental gane has appeared very much better with many competitive longer matches ( some won, some lost ).rather than the previous awful run of set 3 fall aways. This has very much helped her put more good results together and hit new CH marks

Hopefully once she gets more back into the swing again after her injury she can continue this progress and she could have quite a productive grass season.

Interesting that quite a number of folk have at times been very pessimistic regarding Heather in the last few months. Things can often change quite markedly for good or bad.

Plus of course there is always Emma who.I have continued to retain a large deal of optimism for her long term.

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 28th of February 2023 11:17:07 PM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

This may come to bite me on the b*m but I'm optimistic about Emma - she'll be back in the top-50 in the very near future, I reckon (blinkin' tonsillitis - ridiculous)
And I'm optimistic about Katie Swan too - yes, I know she can't seem to step foot on court without being off again for two months but somehow I feel she's young, it'll get sorted...
And I think Jodie is OK..... And Katie B isn't far off, but it's a bit of a struggle - I blame it all on Jeremy, of course

Hev will have her highs (which will be reasonable) and her lows (which will be awful) but, overall, I wouldn't hold my breath...
And Lily might find her mojo again....
It's still a good cohort (better than the one below which has Sonay & Marni, say, but Maia, Anna, Eliz etc don't cut it for me)

indiana · Tennis legend

Ha CD, I had just edited to add my optimism too re Emma. I think we have over the last year or so shared a longer term optimism regarding her being a big player in the coming years and less concern over short term 'dramas'.

So.I'd be bitten too if somehow this doesn't come to pass.

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

My main criticism of Emma right now is I'm just not sure she enters enough tournaments. I get the fact she is worried about injury and I feel she was very unlucky in Auckland (IMO she would likely have made semi-final at least) but you only get points for playing. Tough situation to be in when it comes to finding the right balance of physical training with tournament play, she has my sympathy.

Going a bit off topic here, but seeing as we're discussing British players, how well could Mimi Xu do on the senior tour? Only saw her play once at Wimbledon qualies and she was very impressive for a girl her age. My gut feeling is Klugman, assuming she stays relatively free of injury, may well have greater odds of success due to her naturally more athletic build and so on...

-- Edited by Densher on Tuesday 28th of February 2023 11:33:14 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

I thought long-term,vafter Emma's early year issues after she had put in some solid physical training but very little actual tennis training, post the Australian Open it made eminent sense to take further time out, get rid of niggles and get some proper tennis practice wirh the new coach. Then she goes and gets ruddy tonsillitis.

Of course longer term she needs to play more and I am sure she will. But she is still young and I feel she is still on good course for future years as distinct to matches and ranking points now.

dodrade · Satellite level

Densher wrote:
I am admittedly a glass-half-empty type of person but hard to remain optimistic about the GB women right now other than Heather, who I expect to be back in the top 100 soon.

No way Harriet will defend those IW points, Jodie doesn't seem to possess a good mental game and can't string results together week in week out, Emma isn't playing enough matches in general. As HarryGem alluded above it sometimes feels like Katie B has reached a plateau and the 80-120 range is about as good as we can expect (although it should be noted her wins in Australia, particularly versus Dolehide in Aus Open qualifying were encouraging). Perhaps grounds for being a little more positive there. But Katie S, with the rate she gets injured, Hannah Klugman could make the top 100 before she does.

I've been a Heather-sceptic but since falling out of the Top 150 she has responded positively though not sure if she'll make it back to the Top 100 again.

Before IW I didn't think Harriet would ever make the Top 100 but hasn't really maintained that level since.

Emma's bad luck with injury and illness has to end sometime surely?

Jodie certainly went up a level last year but not sure if she can kick on to the Top 100.

Katie B I fear is too inconsistent to get back to the Top 100.

Katie S has the talent to make the Top 100 but I fear her body will never hold up long enough for her to get there.

Had high hopes for Sonay but progress has slowed and also has injury troubles.

Fran does very well to play professional Tennis at all but like Katie S its doubtful if she can stay fit long enough to fulfil her potential.

Lily is talented but like Katie S rather inconsistent.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1: WATSON, Heather (GBR) Q 145 def KOVINIC, Danka (MNE) 62 7-6(2) 6-4
R1: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) Q 142 lost to STEARNS, Peyton (USA) 137 5-7 7-6(2) 6-7(5)
R1: DART, Harriet (GBR) 110 lost to ANDREEVA, Erika ( ) LL 135 6-7(4) 6-3 6-7(3)

R2: WATSON, Heather (GBR) Q 145 (CH=38 2015) v STEPHENS, Sloane (USA) (5) 51 (CH=3 2018)
They have played eight times before with Sloane winning 3 and Heather 5.

-- Edited by Peter too on Wednesday 1st of March 2023 12:06:26 PM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Peter too wrote:
R1: WATSON, Heather (GBR) Q 145 def KOVINIC, Danka (MNE) 62 7-6(2) 6-4
R1: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) Q 142 lost to STEARNS, Peyton (USA) 137 5-7 7-6(2) 6-7(5)
R1: DART, Harriet (GBR) 110 lost to ZHANG, Shuai (CHN) (2) 23 6-7(4) 6-3 6-7(3)

R2: WATSON, Heather (GBR) Q 145 (CH=38 2015) v STEPHENS, Sloane (USA) (5) 51 (CH=3 2018)
They have played eight times before with Sloane winning 3 and Heather 5.

(You need to change Harriet's opponent, Peter, and put in the LL)

GAMEOVER · Pro player

indiana wrote:
I thought long-term,vafter Emma's early year issues after she had put in some solid physical training but very little actual tennis training, post the Australian Open it made eminent sense to take further time out, get rid of niggles and get some proper tennis practice wirh the new coach. Then she goes and gets ruddy tonsillitis.

Of course longer term she needs to play more and I am sure she will. But she is still young and I feel she is still on good course for future years as distinct to matches and ranking points now.

I too in the near future hope she improves. However since her US Open win she only has wins over 3 players ranked in the top 50 since then. She beat Azarenka then ranked 22 and had wins over Van Uytvanck (at Wimbledon) and Martincova who were both in the top 50 at the time. Added to that she has barely played in the last 5 months. Since losing to Kasatkina in the beginning of October she has only played 4 matches on the main WTA tour. Yet as with Serena and Osaka she is in the top 3 earners of womens tennis but not for actually playing tennis. As an aside pleased with Heather's revival.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I guess everyone 'hopes' Emma improves

I think, though, Indy and I 'expect' her to improve - and quite soon

Yes, the recent results have been woeful

But there seems no longterm injury, and she's young - and she's good

So, it's more than hope - it's a prediction !

We are the Emma's Eternal Optimists

Shhh · Challenger level

Coup Droit wrote:
I guess everyone 'hopes' Emma improves

I think, though, Indy and I 'expect' her to improve - and quite soon

Yes, the recent results have been woeful

But there seems no longterm injury, and she's young - and she's good

So, it's more than hope - it's a prediction !

We are the Emma's Eternal Optimists

It is impossible to remove Emma's fairy tale US Open win from her record but if by some magic it were.......

Emma burst on the scene at Wimbledon making the 4th round. She backed this up with some good results in US and qualified for the Open. Had she lost in the 1st round....or 2nd or 3rd (Yes, I know that she didn't!) then everything from that point on makes perfect sense. Some wins that autumn, sadly caught Covid which spoiled her offs season. None the less a hard fought first full year on the tour, a few decent wins, a few injuries as she found it tough. Finishes the year ranked about 78/80 at age 19. We would all be upbeat about her and stuttering start to this year would just seem bad luck. Its that little detail of the US Open win (when the seas parted for her and the stars of more than just one universe lined up for her that throws it all off!)

I dont see the sponsorships as an issue. Most close to her say that they are carefully scheduled, she needs time away from tennis and these must be pretty cool things to do. The other girls post pictures of being on the beach and nice restaurants but we dont all jump and down and say they are not focussed.

The changing coaches too have caused concern but she made the decision to find one who could commit from the start and didn't click with the 1st couple. She was 18/19 and brand new to the tour. She would have stayed with Dmitry but he wanted to move on. Again not a major issue for me, it takes time to get things right.

What pleases me most are the comments that she trains so hard, is super focussed, hard on herself etc. She is VERY talented and VERY committed. I am sure that she will come good and soon, will be seeded for next years Aussie Open (maybe before then?) but also suspect there'll be more hiccups along the way. When success happens I dont think its because she started to get serious or sorted herself out in some way.....I dont think there has ever been a problem. She totally overachieved with the US Open win at that stage and her natural progression has been thrown off balance. All is good.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Peter too wrote:
R1: WATSON, Heather (GBR) Q 145 def KOVINIC, Danka (MNE) 62 7-6(2) 6-4
R1: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) Q 142 lost to STEARNS, Peyton (USA) 137 5-7 7-6(2) 6-7(5)
R1: DART, Harriet (GBR) 110 lost to ZHANG, Shuai (CHN) (2) 23 6-7(4) 6-3 6-7(3)

R2: WATSON, Heather (GBR) Q 145 (CH=38 2015) v STEPHENS, Sloane (USA) (5) 51 (CH=3 2018)
They have played eight times before with Sloane winning 3 and Heather 5.
(You need to change Harriet's opponent, Peter, and put in the LL)

Thanks, now corrected.

GAMEOVER · Pro player

GAMEOVER wrote:
indiana wrote:
I thought long-term,vafter Emma's early year issues after she had put in some solid physical training but very little actual tennis training, post the Australian Open it made eminent sense to take further time out, get rid of niggles and get some proper tennis practice wirh the new coach. Then she goes and gets ruddy tonsillitis.

Of course longer term she needs to play more and I am sure she will. But she is still young and I feel she is still on good course for future years as distinct to matches and ranking points now.
I too in the near future hope she improves. However since her US Open win she only has wins over 3 players ranked in the top 50 since then. She beat Azarenka then ranked 22 and had wins over Van Uytvanck (at Wimbledon) and Martincova who were both in the top 50 at the time. Added to that she has barely played in the last 5 months. Since losing to Kasatkina in the beginning of October she has only played 4 matches on the main WTA tour. Yet as with Serena and Osaka she is in the top 3 earners of womens tennis but not for actually playing tennis. As an aside pleased with Heather's revival.

Following my comment about Emma and wins over top 50 players since the 2021 US Open, in the same period of time Harriet has 7 wins over players ranked in the top 50.

Peter too · Tennis legend

It's not particularly significant but Emma had four top 50 wins over three players since the US Open win.