Week 12 - WTA1000 - Miami, USA Hard

Elegant Point · Satellite level

RE: Week 12 - WTA1000 - Miami, USA Hard

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Elegant Point wrote:
moon balling by Bianca very irritating Currently 2-2 go Emma

Tennis equivalent of parking the bus !

and Emma needs to deal with it. Cant blame Bianca.

harold Solomon and Eddie Dibbs were the tennis moonball GOATs back in the 70s!

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1: RADUCANU, Emma (GBR) 72 lost to ANDREESCO, Bianca (CAN) 31 3-6 6-3 2-6

-- Edited by Peter too on Wednesday 22nd of March 2023 06:52:26 PM

Shhh · Challenger level

Shame, good match though

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, pity. But again quite encouraging.

May she now have a problem free training block before going into the clay and grass seasons.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Shhh wrote:
Shame, good match though

Exactly.....

wales1994 · County player

She had her opportunities in set 3, if she'd have taken one of those breaks in Bianca's 1st or 2nd service games - it could've been a different outcome. But still, I'm just happy she has played 5 matches without retirement.

the addict · Tennis legend

Bianca is still under-ranked after all her injury problems and will be back in the top twenty soon if she stays fit and healthy. Emma is very close to her level and if she can get and take advantage of better draws she'll soon clmb up the rankings. Today was a tough one for both of them.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Ill preface this by saying I didnt see any action.

But we seem to often excuse our womens players losses around here.

Which is fine but. Do we not cut them too much slack?

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 22nd of March 2023 08:28:54 PM

kundalini · Specialist Reporter + Intermediate Club Player

I was very disappointed by Emma's performance, especially the first and third sets. Despite the fast court surface, she never looked comfortable in the conditions, the wind seemed to be a factor late on but even when it seemed calm, she was making unusual errors on shots that are normally well within her range, as well as struggling to deal with the weight of Andreescu's shots.

Bianca played very well at times, super serving to save lots of the break points in the 2nd set, wonderful drop shots, heavy groundstrokes. But there were enough mistakes from her for Emma to get chances in the 3rd set, that Raducanu wasted through her own poor play - return error on 2nd serve at 30-40 in the opening game of 3rd set and a poor backhand error into the net at 30-40 2-4*.

I thought Bianca's talent was evident in this match, while Emma didn't look like a future slam winner to me, though her 2nd set performance was reasonably good.

Shhh · Challenger level

JonH comes home wrote:
Ill preface this by saying I didnt see any action.

But we seem to often excuse our womens players losses around here.

Which is fine but. Do we not cut them too much slack?

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 22nd of March 2023 08:28:54 PM

I dont think so on this occassion Jon. It was a tough first round for both players. Emma did seem a bit flat in the 1st set, a little behind the curve but improved until those last 4 games. Had Emma got through I would have liked to think her level would have raised as the tournament progressed but, it was like meeting a seed in the first round and she came 2nd.

I always take the US Open win out of it (I know that you can't....but I do!) and Emma is 20, developing all the time and I think working hard and taking it seriously. She'll get there. I would like to see here be seeded come next years Aussie Open. Sooner would be great but moving up from 80 to 30 in a calendar year will be great progress. I'm not looking for her to win another slam yet though maybe a 250 later in the year would be nice?

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Shhh wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
Ill preface this by saying I didnt see any action.

But we seem to often excuse our womens players losses around here.

Which is fine but. Do we not cut them too much slack?

-- Edited by JonH comes home on Wednesday 22nd of March 2023 08:28:54 PM
I dont think so on this occassion Jon. It was a tough first round for both players. Emma did seem a bit flat in the 1st set, a little behind the curve but improved until those last 4 games. Had Emma got through I would have liked to think her level would have raised as the tournament progressed but, it was like meeting a seed in the first round and she came 2nd.

I always take the US Open win out of it (I know that you can't....but I do!) and Emma is 20, developing all the time and I think working hard and taking it seriously. She'll get there. I would like to see here be seeded come next years Aussie Open. Sooner would be great but moving up from 80 to 30 in a calendar year will be great progress. I'm not looking for her to win another slam yet though maybe a 250 later in the year would be nice?

Being frank Im feeling quite down about our players right now!

the womens I feel has flattered to deceive. putting Emma aside I personally have no faith any of the crop will make the top 100 sustainably

the mens feels like outside the top 5 (Liam being 5) its falling away again

mens doubles feels like it declining and despite Neal and Joe at the top, I feel quite despondent

and womens doubles isnt worth talking about !

and with clay around the corner it feels like a long way since the heady days of last seasons grass!

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

But, to be honest, of course you're feeling down if you're not watching any of the matches and just watching the results

Results are binary - win or lose

But there's a lot to be up about even when you lose (or sometimes down about even when you win) in the actual match

Emma's match was fine - not perfect but SO much better than nearly all her matches last year - I think she has gelled well with her new coach and that's a huge deal as she'd lost her way completely last year.

PaulM · Tennis legend

Yeah I agree CD. I liked a lot of what I saw today even if it was hardly perfect.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Well , I hope youre right !