brittak wrote:

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dodrade wrote:

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Harriet has the kindest draw, the other three are 50/50.

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 Not quite going to plan

1-6 in 20 minutes

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 A tad more resistance in the 2nd set but Harriet goes down 1-6,2-6.

Probably least said about this really - in some ways hope there was some underlying reason - otherwise this just is not a great result or performance (havent seen it, just going by the scores)

brittak wrote:

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brittak wrote:

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dodrade wrote:

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Harriet has the kindest draw, the other three are 50/50.

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 Not quite going to plan

1-6 in 20 minutes

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 A tad more resistance in the 2nd set but Harriet goes down 1-6,2-6.

Probably least said about this really - in some ways hope there was some underlying reason - otherwise this just is not a great result or performance (havent seen it, just going by the scores)

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 That wasn't supposed to happen. Harriet was my first choice to get through, with Katie Swan 2nd and Jodie 50-50.

Diane held to love, Katie missed a couple of shots *0-1

Impressive service game from Katie, featuring a drive volley winner, two f winners and a good wide 1st serve unret, as she holds to love 1-1

Diane concedes a df in another routine hold, Katie's f dtl just wide 30-15, then a Parry volley winner 40-15, KB b ue long *1-2

KB agg f cc 40-15, KB f ue long, then a df 40-40, KB b ue net after 2nd 40-A, saves bp with an unremarkable 2nd unret nowhere near the court 40-40, super KB f winner A-, deep f after a 2nd 2-2

good play from Katie finishing with a f winner 0-15, then a super b return winner off a 1st 0-30, another good f winner for 15-40 and an astonishing slice backhand winner down the line with plenty of side spin for the break *3-2

KB b dtl error, KB f winner after 1st 15-15, KB agg f after 2nd 30-15, KB agg f 40-15, unret 1st 4-2*

KB b dtl winner 0-15 DP lob long 0-30, Parry f cc ue wide 0-40, Katie aggressive b return off a 2nd for the break *5-2

DP b ue long 15-0, KB f ue long 15-15, Diane f pass winner 15-30, then Parry f drive volley winner after good play 15-40, KB f cc winner 30-40, Katie dominates but her forehand drive volley is narrowly wide for the break 5-3*

Love hold for Diane featuring a f drive volley winner *5-4

unret 1st 15-0, KB poor b error net 15-15, Katie sets up f but puts it wide 15-30, KB agg f after 1st 30-30, Katie good f 40-30, Diane f error net after KB agg f cc 6-4

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deep return 0-15, unret 2nd 15-15, DP agg f 30-15, good play from KB f winner 30-30, unret 1st 40-30, super b return winner off a 2nd 40-40, Diane f pass winner A-, KB deep return 40-40, Katie b return winner off a 1st as Diane attempts a serve + volley 40-A, unret 2nd ? 40-40, unret 1st A-, KB f ue wide *0-1

Diane b cc ue wide 15-0, Katie deep f after 1st 30-0, df 30-15, KB f winner 40-15, df 40-30, Katie puts up high lob that Diane smashes miles wide 1-1

Diane f cc error wide 0-15, df 0-30, DP f dtl error wide 0-40, unret 1st 15-40, good play from Katie finishing with a f cc winner for the break *2-1

Super f winner after 2nd 15-0, repeat 30-0, not watching 40-0, df 40-15, missed it 3-1*

routine hold for Diane to 15, a couple of f errors from Katie *3-2

ace, KB f winner after deep f 30-0, Katie f winner after good 1st 40-0, KB backhand pass that Diane can't deal with 4-2*

KB superb f cc pass winner off a sliced approach 0-15, Katie's return off a 2nd has lots of side spin on it causing Diane to net her f 0-30, unret 1st 15-30, df 15-40, Parry agg f, Katie attempts a high defensive lob but it is long 30-40, Diane's topspin backhand goes up in the air before landing well short of the net for the break *5-2

ace, Diane with a beautiful topspin backhand pass winner 15-15, Katie f winner 30-15, df 30-30, KB f winner after good wide 1st 40-30, Katie f winner 6-2

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Katie coped a lot better with Diane's backhand slice than I was expecting. Parry's game looks great but seems to lack substance at the moment. Katie played aggressively, the Boulter forehand dominated most of the rallies. I watched Harriet up until 1-6 1-3 at which stage I switched to Katie's match. Harriet was as weaponless and as useless as you could possibly imagine, though Caroline performed surprisingly well, landing a lot of big shots. Dolehide was taking up an extreme serving position from the advantage side, helping her to serve at an angle that Harriet struggled to deal with. 

The speed of the courts doesn't seem to be so bad if you've got weapons. I watched a fair bit of Gabi Ruse beating Martincova; she had no problem hitting lots of winners. Similarly, Katie Boulter's first serve created openings for big forehands and her aggressive approach returning 2nd serves was generally successful.

-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 7th of March 2023 03:11:54 AM

Jodie starts with an ace T 15-0, KB agg b cc 15-15, KB f ue 30-15, Jodie agg f cc 40-15, KB deep return off a 2nd 40-30, unret 1st 1-0*

J b dtl ue net 15-0, K f dv 30-0, unret 1st 40-0, K f error long after 1st 40-15, K b ue long 40-30 K agg f cc 1-1

J finally puts away a backhand drive volley winner after K kept getting the ball back 15-0 Jodie agg f 30-0, Jodie volley winner after drop 40-0, J b dtl net after 1st 40-15, J poor f error net after 1st 40-30, unret 1st 2-1*

K agg b after 1st 15-0, J f error just long 30-0, K f ue wide 30-15, Jodie dominates but her smash is long 40-15, K f winner 2-2

Jodie f error long 0-15, K wastes chance with f error wide 15-15, K agg b cc 15-30, K deep return off a 2nd 15-40, another 2nd serve, this time K b winner for the break 2-3*

unret 1st 15-0, Jodie low slice backhand 15-15, Jodie poor f error long 30-15, unret 1st 40-15, K b error long after 1st 40-30, K agg b cc *2-4

Jodie poor f error wide after 2nd 0-15, K f return winner off 1st 0-30, super b cc winner from K 0-40, awful Burrage b cc error net with a big open space to hit, broken to love, only one 1st serve in the game 2-5*

unret 1st, repeat 30-0, K f error long after 2nd 30-15, unret 1st, unret 2nd ? - Jodie furious with herself 2-6

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Jodie getting destroyed. Partly her own incompetence, though Kimberley's high first serve percentage is winning her a lot of points. The Birrell first serve doesn't look particularly terrifying but Jodie is finding it very difficult to get returns in play on a regular basis. 

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J starts 2nd set with a poor f error long 0-15, unret 1st 15-15, K deep f 15-30, decent 2nd unret 30-30, K f drive volley winner 30-40, unret 1st 40-40, repeat A-, Jodie swings but misses the ball, then stands wondering what just happened 40-40, K high defensive shot causes J to get herself in trouble, leaving space for K agg b dtl 40-A, J fails to connect properly on a b - imagine a golfer taking a tee shot that goes about 2 yards, you'd think she was a 9 year old learning the game - hopeless 0-1*

J agg b dtl 0-15, not sure what is going on but now Kimberley starts playing as if she took up tennis last week, a poor f ue net then a shocking f error on an easy shot near the net 0-40, df for a break to love 1-1

K b cc wide 15-0, unret 1st 30-0, J super backhand dtl winner 40-0, K b return winner off a 2nd 40-15, J poor b error long after 1st 40-30, decent wide 1st serve unret 2-1*

unret 2nd 15-0, K poor f error net 15-15, decent J return - K b net after 1st 15-30, K b cc winner 30-30, K f error wide after 2nd 30-40, K impressive v winner after rally 40-40, poor b cc error wide from Jodie A-, K poor b error net 40-40, horrible smash error long from Jodie - terrible A-, unret 1st 2-2

unret 1st 15-0, poor f error net after 1st 15-15, J poor again 15-30, K wastes chance b ue net 30-30 K shot must have clipped the line - Jodie in disbelief 30-40, J f error just wide after 1st 2-3*

K v wide after J b pass 0-15, K b dtl winner 15-15, J f dtl ue net 30-15, unret 1st 40-15, decent wide 1st unret *2-4

careless f error long - other side of court was vacant 0-15, strange J b cc winner 15-15, J f winner after 1st 30-15, J poor b error net after 2nd 30-30, K f winner 30-40, unret 40-40, Jodie smash winner A-, unret 2nd 3-4*

poor f error net from J 15-0, df 15-15, it takes two smashes but Jodie gets it done eventually 15-30, K agg b cc - Jodie's defensive play has been truly dreadful tonight 30-30, K b dtl winner after J shot lands short 40-30 unret 1st *3-5

big T serve unret 15-0, K agg f error long 30-0, decent wide 1st unret 40-0, ace out wide - 4-5*

rubbish f error long from Jodie 15-0, abysmal return error long off a 2nd 30-0, nine year old Jodie is back 40-0, super v winner from Kimberley to finish the match 4-6

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A shambolic performance. Strategy, tactics and execution all abysmal. Does she even understand what her strengths and weaknesses are ? 

-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 7th of March 2023 07:38:59 AM

Lambda wrote:

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So, with Harriet's loss, Jodie becomes our new GB#2. Congratulations Jodie. Harriet heads back into the pack.

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Well live GB #2. If one of the Katies reproduces what Harriet did here last year then she won't he the next official GB #2.

Jodie has come back extremely fast from injury. Have to wonder if more rehab time would have been good, but the pressure to go for points can be overwhelming.