Week 3 & 4 - Australian Open Grand Slam - Melbourne, Australia Hard

PaulM · Tennis legend

Week 3 & 4 - Australian Open Grand Slam - Melbourne, Australia Hard

PaulM · Tennis legend

Emma loses 6-4 in the third. Obviously disappointing but so much to be pleased with. Huge fight, some great quality, fourth match back and she's doing that tennis already.

Keep healthy and it's going to be a fun ride.

Peter too · Tennis legend

R2: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) 54 (CH=50 2023) lost to ZHENG, Qinwen (CHN) (12) 15 (CH=13 2024) 3-6 3-6
R2: RADUCANU, Emma (GBR) 296 (CH=10 2022) lost to WANG, Yafan (CHN) 94 (CH=47 2019) 4-6 6-4 4-6

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Gutted.

I didn't get to see any of the match, so would appreciate a match report from anyone which saw some please.

Crispy · Strong Club Player

Emma competed very well, was very impressed with Wang - she didn't blink, and was all over the court, and hit the lines on key points. Emma's fitness issues looked like sickness, rather than injury related. It felt like a match she would win in the next couple of months. Lots of missed break points for Emma though, was very tight though/

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Helen40 wrote:
Gutted.

I didn't get to see any of the match, so would appreciate a match report from anyone which saw some please.

Others will be better commentators, I'm sure, but I saw it all from 0-2 in the second.

It was a super match. Emma looked fit, and healthy, was playing strong tennis, cracking short cross-court forehhands, with a lot of variety too.

Wang was SO solid, excellent defence and some really good offence when needed too

Basically, Emma got broken at the very start of the third, suffering from what seemed like an upset stomach

Doctor came on to take her blood pressure etc

I think she didn't manage the break before the third set properly. Because it started right at the start of the third set. Either she ate something that disgreed with her. Or drank too much fluid too quickly. Or took too much sugar or whatever. Her electroyltes went haywire, IMO.

Which is why there was no real problem - she was fine by the middle of the third set

The rest of the match was very close, but Wang had that very early break and it was that that made the difference

But, maybe I'm a bottle half-full person, but I thought it was really positive for Emma overall

Dallastone1 · Improver

Got to think with some miles in her legs and some more recent match play experience she probably wins this one. Wang was super solid but not sure shed beat Emma straight up if both fully fit and not coming back from lengthy lay off.
Positive start to the season. Results will happen if she continues in this vein.

Peter too · Tennis legend

It was very windy in the first set and Wang coped much better with the conditions. Emma made a lot more unforced errors than her opponent and didn't seem to have any ideas. Emma went 2-0 down in the 2nd set but the wind started to drop and Emma grew in confidence and started to mix her game up more with drop shots, lobs and heavily angled shots. Wang who had found it so easy to predict the next shot in the 1st set suddenly found Emma's next shot much harder to predict. Emma ran away with the rest of the set. They then both went off for a change of clothes, Emma was the first back and had to wait for her opponent. Emma quickly ran into trouble in the third she looked as if she might be sick and called for the medics. She then continued playing. She seemed OK once the rally started but looked unwell between the points. She had some chances to get back level but they slipped away. Wang was playing very well. Last year she moved up from outside the top 400 to inside the top 100 and beat the 22nd seed in the 1st round so she playing well above her ranking.

-- Edited by Peter too on Thursday 18th of January 2024 11:35:13 AM

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

Many thanks CD, Dallastone and Peter for your insights. It makes me more optimistic about Emma this year, than just another close match that she lost.

Peter too · Tennis legend

Amazing end to the Rybakina Blinkova match. A 93 minute final set ending 7-6(20) to Blinkova.

Blinkova had about 9 match points and Rybakina 5. There was one amazing point when Rybakina was on match point and about six times it looked as if she had hit a ball that her opponent had no chance of getting but each time, some how Blinkova managed to scramble the ball back one more time. I hate to think how much ground Blinkova covered in that one point to save the match.

-- Edited by Peter too on Thursday 18th of January 2024 12:09:10 PM

Tanaqui · Club Coach

Shame that Emma lost, but it seems like a very positive match at this stage in her comeback, especially as she appears to have confidence in the joints where she had operations.

LordBrownof · Futures level

This is lovely. Emma is a real class act.

www.youtube.com/watch

For those who don't want to watch, Emma asked to say a few words of condolence about Mike Dickson before her press conference started.

-- Edited by LordBrownof on Thursday 18th of January 2024 01:45:44 PM

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes, pity for Emma today. But overall a positive couple of weeks, considering as she was saying she did have a rehab setback pushing back to November when she was really able to start work. She seems pretty clear headed as to where her game is at and what needs worked on.

Onwards, and all the best to her

Neil Gee · Club Coach

Thanks Coup for the report as I didn't manage to watch it either.

Let's hope your optimism is justified.

HarryGem · Club Coach

Two fairly predictable results in all honesty yet quite a few positives for both Katie B and Emma.

Katie showed some good fight and was just beaten by someone who, right now, is a better player. But not by that much.
With some luck and if her fitness remains I can see Katie firmly in the top 40 and maybe even with an outside chance of a seeding at the US Open. Long way to go though obviously.

For Emma I think she can be fairly satisfied. In her 4 matches back she's shown some good moments of quality but it is clear that her overall match fitness level is some way off. Not likely to happen but I'd like to see her play some low key events over the next few weeks to build up match play against players who are more akin to her current ranking. She needs time on court and needs matches. I worry that accepting wildcards to higher ranking tournaments leave her exposed to the top players and possible early round 1 exits. At a slam you get a day off in between which is probably right for her right now. She does look like she would currently struggle with two long matches in two days. Today's medical episode is thankfully not a muscle/wrist/ankle type problem but it almost looked like the panic attack she had at Wimbledon. I know she's passing it off a sort of stomach bug but not sure that isn't just camouflaging something else.

So two early exits but still a lot to be positive about.