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Post Info TOPIC: Week 10 - WTA1000 - Indian Wells, USA Hard


Tennis legend

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Week 10 - WTA1000 - Indian Wells, USA Hard


One of my main takeaways from yesterday is that it's obvious that Sachs is a good choice

Emma is playing the right sort of tennis for her. Even if she had lost, it was still exactly the right sort of match (as someone else before noted).

All the nonsense that Torben Beltz was having her do, and Tursunov, and whoever else, has gone.

She looks happy, which is not because she was winning (she even looked 'happy' in the second set) but because she knew what she was trying to do and it suited her, it was what she wanted to try and do too.

And it was not because she was suddenly injury free either - unfortunately we know she still has an issue

The other guys' stock should take a hit

Sachs and her have obviously gelled. And the guy knows what he's doing. More power to his elbow. And Emma's wrist.

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Brilliant Emma!!!
I gave in to sleep a short while into the third set. Thrilled to see the result when I checked on waking in the early hours.
So pleased to read all your reports and assessments, they are so encouraging!!

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Although I saw most of the match yesterday I wanted yo listen to the 5 live Sport commentary. Here it is
- 3rd set only, with Russell Fuller and Courtney N ( cant spell, or pronounce her name- must try better).
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001kj2z

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dodrade wrote:

Great to see Emma playing so well again, especially at Indian Wells where she initially struggled after her US Open win.


 Yes, it really is very good to see her doing so well on such slow paced courts. Opens up so many more future possibilities if she can do well on a range of court surfaces and speeds.

I think Swiatek will have rather too much at this stage. But it has already been very encouraging.



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Emma's next match is scheduled for "not before 3am Wednesday" UK time, 8pm local time. So it looks as if it will be under floodlights.

 



-- Edited by Peter too on Tuesday 14th of March 2023 06:31:36 PM

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indiana wrote:
dodrade wrote:

Great to see Emma playing so well again, especially at Indian Wells where she initially struggled after her US Open win.


 Yes, it really is very good to see her doing so well on such slow paced courts. Opens up so many more future possibilities if she can do well on a range of court surfaces and speeds.

I think Swiatek will have rather too much at this stage. But it has already been very encouraging.


 I think at times over the past 18 months we have sometimes forgotten how special Emma is when playing at her best, head and shoulders above the other GB girls.

Not sure she'll have enough left in the tank for Iga tonight but the tournament has already been a success for her.



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Emma lost  the 1st set 6-3 against Iga.



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Woke up for the second set. Started off strong but unable to sustain it. Her opponent was just sooo good. Hey ho. Back to sleep now for me.

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R4: RADUCANU, Emma (GBR) 77 lost to SWIATEK, Iga (POL) (1) 1 3-6 1-6

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Emma lost 6-3 6-1 to Iga.



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Rather predictably, Emma got destroyed in the painfully slow night time conditions in Indian Wells. Her first serve had almost no penetration, one ace and 2 unreturned first serves all match. Very few first serves landed near the lines, while the speed was understandably slower than in her previous two matches. She had marginally more success on 2nd, winning 50%.

When the prediction model gave Emma 11% chance of winning before the match had started, Laura Robson commentating on Amazon Prime seemed surprised it was so low; I thought it should have been 5% (possibly as high as 20% had it been afternoon sunshine with a day off between matches). 

The early stages of the first set were fairly tight. Raducanu saved 2 bps helped by a Swiatek error on the first, then good play, finishing with a forehand winner on the 2nd, a nice drop shot to take her opening service game. An aggressive forehand return off a 2nd got Emma to 15-30, only to make a careless forehand error long for 30-30, Raducanu backhand pass winner brought the score back to 40-40, then a lovely drop shot from Emma to force break point but Swiatek saved it with a forehand winner. A rare error from Iga gave Emma another bp but her return off a 1st was into the net.

Emma held to 30 thanks to several Swiatek errors, despite only landing 2 out of 6 first serves. Iga to 15 for *2-3. Emma looked to punish any 2nd serves, a super backhand return winner for her single point. At other times, Iga managed to get the ball deep despite Raducanu blasting returns near her feet. Swiatek's defensive skills in these conditions are so impressive. 

A poor Raducanu forehand into the net when dominating a rally, then later a df as she was broken to love. Then a drop shot error from Raducanu and a backhand crosscourt error on another point she could have won as Swiatek held to love for *2-5. A pair of forehand winners from Raducanu as she went up 40-0 then lost the next two points before a backhand error wide from Swiatek allowed her to hold for 3-5*. A comfortable hold for Swiatek, including her 5th and 6th unreturned 1st serves, to take the opening set 3-6

Raducanu smash winner on another of those typical Indian Wells points when the ball keeps coming back. An ace T and a super backhand winner after 2nd to hold at the start of the 2nd set. Swiatek landed all six first serves as she held to 30. Despite three 2nd serves, Emma was up 40-15 after a forehand pass winner, a good backhand down the line and a deep 2nd serve, but the lack of penetration on her first serve was evident as she lost the next two points, Swiatek in control both times. A poor error from Emma on a forehand after a 2nd gave Swiatek bp, that she wasted with a forehand error crosscourt, Raducanu poor forehand error long, presented Iga with a 2nd bp, saved by an aggressive backhand crosscourt from Raducanu. A df for bp number 3, Iga's return off a 2nd into the net, Emma saved a 4th bp with a good wide 1st serve, then two horrible forehand errors from Raducanu, the 2nd after impressive defence from Swiatek, cost her the break 1-2*.

The commentary caught coach Sachs telling Emma that her ball was sitting.

From then on it was far too easy for Swiatek, she seemed to have time to hit whatever shot she wanted. Raducanu defended but had no penetration on her shots, so ended up merely extending the rally by an extra shot or two. When Raducanu did have a slight opening to be aggressive, she made awful errors as she collapsed to a 3-6 1-6 defeat, winning just 2 points out of the last 20.



-- Edited by kundalini on Wednesday 15th of March 2023 02:29:22 PM

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Never mind. Indian Wells is difficult conditions and not ones that suit what should be her game plan. Was always going to be a very tough ask.

Onwards.

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This tournament has been 100% positive for me, as far as Emma is concerned

The world's 77th player losing 3 & 1 to the world's undisputed number 1 is hardly a major shock-horror moment.

It's not being Pollyanna but, given where we were a few weeks ago, and all of last year, I think it's all been excellent.

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Yep the conditions were dire for this match up, and I think Emma had ran out of steam, never really looking pumped.

An amazing tournament and Im predicting big things for this grass court season for Enma

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Great tournament for Emma, real progress, in fact in some ways - had she beaten Swiatek, it would be US Open pressure all over again. So happy to see her building her confidence, and hopefully doing that over a series of tournaments and earning her rankings rise through consistency

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