Week 43 - ITF W60 - Glasgow, Great Britain Hard

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Week 43 - ITF W60 - Glasgow, Great Britain Hard

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Densher wrote:
Potential opportunity for Xu to break. Knutson is not getting enough first serves in. Shouts of 'take your time' coming from Knutson's coach/boyfriend.

So, Xu has just taken the first set 6-4.

Xu eventually broke back for 4-4 after some sustained pressure on the Knutson forehand. What followed may well turn out to be a key transition in this match. Knutson played some excellent net points to carve out a break opportunity but bizzarely elected to try an inside out forehand on a Xu second serve, which went straight into the net (surely her more reliable backhand would've been more appropriate). She squandered another break point before Xu finally consolidated, thus moving ahead for the first time.

Knutson then made some dreadful errors to go down 0-40 down on her serve and hand Xu set points on a plate, somehow made it back to deuce, only to make two more unforced errors and hand Xu the set. Got to be said that as the set progressed Xu was sensible to avoid going to the Knutson backhand too often. She also stayed calm when Knutson chipped and charged.

Knutson now visibly frustrated, which is good news for Xu fans, because when Knutson gets tense she overhits.

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Think Xu has got this now if she just stays calm and maintains her current level. Knutson is so tense and still irritated about the first set, she is bound to hand Xu some more break point chances.

-- Edited by Densher on Thursday 26th of October 2023 10:12:38 AM

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

After a long service game with multiple deuces, Xu eventually holds for 3-2* - lot of pressure on Knutson now, if she gets broken here then it's essentially all over. Once again, Xu doing well to stay calm, while Knutson's impatience has led her to make bad errors.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Knutson's service stats are quite good BUT she's got so much problem with her ball toss - she's throwing it up two or three times practically each serve - that it's killing her confidence in it

Which is affecting everything else

A huge number of poor UEs on her backhand

Leaving Mimi receiving for the match at 5-2* and Knutson probably in a hurry to get off the court

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Coup Droit wrote:
Knutson's service stats are quite good BUT she's got so much problem with her ball toss - she's throwing it up two or three times practically each serve - that it's killing her confidence in it

Which is affecting everything else

A huge number of poor UEs on her backhand

Leaving Mimi receiving for the match at 5-2* and Knutson probably in a hurry to get off the court

Yes it now feels as if Knutson has already conceded the match. She looks so deflated out there.

EDIT: Another thing about Knutson is that she has recently been making a lot more errors on her backhand. Her strong backhand was the foundation of her game earlier this year but lately it's been looking a lot weaker.

-- Edited by Densher on Thursday 26th of October 2023 10:39:05 AM

scottie1 · Futures level

Watched match live XU is very impressive her weight of shot is great

scottie1 · Futures level

Is she as good as Hannah?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Yes, Densher, really 'embarrassing' to be beaten so easily by someone ranked outside the top-1000 - and knowing everyone's watching - Knutson looked like she wanted the ground to open and swallow her up

But a super match from Mimi

What a win !

4 & 2 against a player ranked WTA 179, who just won a W40

-- Edited by Coup Droit on Thursday 26th of October 2023 10:39:10 AM

wales1994 · County player

Awesome win Mimi! Is that the biggest win of her career so far? Her opponent was missing regularly but Mimi was constantly hitting deep with controlled aggression, and always applying pressure. I also did not expect her to chase down that dropshot at *30-15 in the last game.

British women's tennis looks to be very healthy with multiple juniors coming through!

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

marvellous, well done Mimi, this Autumn series in the UK is going really well for our newer girls and men also

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

scottie1 wrote:
Is she as good as Hannah?

Just my opinion: no, not quite, but....

Mimi is two years olders (or 18 months to be exact) so that makes quite a big difference at this age

She also has slightly less variety in her armoury - she doesn't have the 'surprise', amazing balls that Hannah pulls off

But, I agree, great weight of shot, a great physique to help that, very good techique, composed, often keeps it quite simple, and a good feel for the game, she sees the spaces well

Huge potential, that's for sure

Densher · Intermediate Club Player

Xu very good today, albeit somewhat aided by the self-destructive tendencies of her opponent. Big momentum swing in that second set was the failure of Knutson to break Xu in that long service game when she had chances to do so.

One thing I noticed is that even when Knutson was up a break in the first set she was still throwing in more net points than usual, a sign of tension and that she felt fortunate to be ahead. She is a good volleyer but doesn't normally attack the net with any frequency unless she needs a plan B. Not to take anything away from Xu's racquet skills, but it feels like the better mental game was crucial in the match outcome.

Crispy · Strong Club Player

Hugely impressive win

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
scottie1 wrote:
Is she as good as Hannah?
Just my opinion: no, not quite, but....
Mimi is two years olders (or 18 months to be exact) so that makes quite a big difference at this age
She also has slightly less variety in her armoury - she doesn't have the 'surprise', amazing balls that Hannah pulls off
But, I agree, great weight of shot, a great physique to help that, very good techique, composed, often keeps it quite simple, and a good feel for the game, she sees the spaces well
Huge potential, that's for sure

I guess the good news is that there is plenty of room for both of them to do well in their future careers, which is exciting !

BJK Cup team 2026 - Raducanu, Klugman and Xu. That sounds good!