Week 26 - WTA500 - Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass

Crispy · Strong Club Player

Week 26 - WTA500 - Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass

PaulM · Tennis legend

Yeah she did fine today I felt.

indiana · Tennis legend

markymc1983 wrote:
Yeah I think that shoulder is sore, Naomi Broady said she nearly refused the LL entry when it was offered to her

And maybe should have refused it. Hope it is OK by Wimbledon but today won't have helped, although at least she wasn't out there overlong!

markymc1983 · Club Coach

Harriets game is no doubt too 100. Its just her 2nd serve that lets her down. First serve has improved though

markymc1983 · Club Coach

indiana wrote:
markymc1983 wrote:
Yeah I think that shoulder is sore, Naomi Broady said she nearly refused the LL entry when it was offered to her
And maybe should have refused it. Hope it is OK by Wimbledon but today won't have helped, although at least she wasn't out there overlong!

I think the chance of extra points pushing towards the top 100 was too much. Hope she can manage some good rehab before Wimbledon

Peter too · Tennis legend

R2: BURRAGE, Jodie (GBR) 128 lost to GAUFF, Coco (USA) (5) 7 1-6 1-6
R2: DART, Harriet (GBR) 142 lost to OSTAPENKO, Jelena (LAT) 17 3-6 4-6

Nix · Futures level

markymc1983 wrote:
Harriets game is no doubt too 100. Its just her 2nd serve that lets her down. First serve has improved though

Is it impossible to improve that at this stage in a career? It does seem to hold her back so much.

Priesty · Challenger level

RJH1962 wrote:
Gauff looing really strong. Not much Jodie can do . 6-1 first set

Coco should have been leaving the court for things like that, not doing it for all the world to see wink

seagull · Hall of fame

markymc1983 wrote:
Harriets game is no doubt too 100. Its just her 2nd serve that lets her down. First serve has improved though

I was courtside watching and said exactly the same thing. Second serve is top 500 level at best

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

seagull wrote:
markymc1983 wrote:
Harriets game is no doubt too 100. Its just her 2nd serve that lets her down. First serve has improved though
I was courtside watching and said exactly the same thing. Second serve is top 500 level at best

Which is surely a confidence thing ? If you can hit a first serve in line with others , you can hit a second serve, you just need condidence to go for it more and accept the odd double as a consequence

markymc1983 · Club Coach

As a lifelong fan of Gabriela Sabatini I have to say it is very hard to improve a limp 2nd serve. Definitely a mental issue. It would be better if Harriet just through in 2 first serves and accept the doubles. Those returns flying past you must be so damaging to your confidence

emmsie69 · Top national player

markymc1983 wrote:
As a lifelong fan of Gabriela Sabatini I have to say it is very hard to improve a limp 2nd serve. Definitely a mental issue. It would be better if Harriet just through in 2 first serves and accept the doubles. Those returns flying past you must be so damaging to your confidence

Yet Harriet's 2nd serve win % was higher than Ostapenko's today

It's all been discussed before and I think the conclusion was that it was a deliberate strategy.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
seagull wrote:
markymc1983 wrote:
Harriets game is no doubt too 100. Its just her 2nd serve that lets her down. First serve has improved though
I was courtside watching and said exactly the same thing. Second serve is top 500 level at best
Which is surely a confidence thing ? If you can hit a first serve in line with others , you can hit a second serve, you just need condidence to go for it more and accept the odd double as a consequence

That's assuming you're doing your second serve as a first serve, the same action, just a little softer

But normally the first serve and second serve are very different

The first one is a flatter shot, with the ball thrown out in front. The second is a top-spin shot, more bend, having to get over the ball, with the ball thrown more behind you.

So it's quite reasonable that you can do the first, say, but not the second.

Yes, one solution would be to do first-seconds. But whereas people like Pete Sampras used to do that very effectively, I'm not sure it's going to work for Harriet. However, maybe worth trying....

Or figure out what it is about a regular top-spin second that she can't do and work on it...

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
JonH comes home wrote:
seagull wrote:
markymc1983 wrote:
Harriets game is no doubt too 100. Its just her 2nd serve that lets her down. First serve has improved though
I was courtside watching and said exactly the same thing. Second serve is top 500 level at best
Which is surely a confidence thing ? If you can hit a first serve in line with others , you can hit a second serve, you just need condidence to go for it more and accept the odd double as a consequence
That's assuming you're doing your second serve as a first serve, the same action, just a little softer
But normally the first serve and second serve are very different
The first one is a flatter shot, with the ball thrown out in front. The second is a top-spin shot, more bend, having to get over the ball, with the ball thrown more behind you.
So it's quite reasonable that you can do the first, say, but not the second.
Yes, one solution would be to do first-seconds. But whereas people like Pete Sampras used to do that very effectively, I'm not sure it's going to work for Harriet. However, maybe worth trying....
Or figure out what it is about a regular top-spin second that she can't do and work on it...

True - the aim of the top spin second that most players play is two fold A- to get over the ball with control and get it in and B- get enough bite on it to get kick or even swerve out wide (if not top spin) and make it difficult to get back or to do damage with.

im guessing Harriet struggles technically with that, Ive never seen her serve so dont know, and that is an issue. So it may be technical; but could it also partly be a confidence thing - she goes into herself, dont serve a double, just get it in court. and it becomes a patsy.

I had a doubles partner who used to literally tell us juniors that serving a double was criminal and it made us go right into ourselves and also had back on first serve a little. I later developed a pretty mean kick second serve, which I also used sometimes on first serve to mix it up and it worked quite a treat. but it took me to develop my confidence a lot and not be worried to fail.

maybe for harriet it is confidence and technical- but ive never seen her serve so cant say !

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

How come you've never seen her serve, Jon? You must have seen Harriet play on TV, surely, no?