Week 17 - WTA1000 - Madrid, Spain Clay

seagull · Hall of fame

Week 17 - WTA1000 - Madrid, Spain Clay

jb288 · Satellite level

Will these mandatory clay events have a big impact on Katie's ranking potential? I've never paid much attention to that whole set of rules as it doesn't often apply to our players!

indiana · Tennis legend

Katie said at the BJK Cup that in her first match she tried to play like a clay counter and then reverted to her normal style on Day 2. Sounds as if maybe she was continuing with her normal and it didn't work this time?

9vicman · Satellite level

Katie's still such a novice on clay and this is outdoors at altitude. And she still came close. Montgomery thrashed Avanesyan in the first round so she can play on the dirt.

Bit of a sobering week for the Brits, with Evans, Murray and Burrage injured, and other Brits losing easily. All up to Cam now, and the doubles teams of course.

Good news: there will still be Brits in the tournament's Tuesday!

seagull · Hall of fame

Katie and Jack could do with some 250s on clay rather than the continuous Masters events.

Var · Pro player

9vicman wrote:
Katie's still such a novice on clay and this is outdoors at altitude. And she still came close. Montgomery thrashed Avanesyan in the first round so she can play on the dirt.

Bit of a sobering week for the Brits, with Evans, Murray and Burrage injured, and other Brits losing easily. All up to Cam now, and the doubles teams of course.

Good news: there will still be Brits in the tournament's Tuesday!

Well, we can still watch Mika tomorrow in her SF in the W35 in Nottingham. Jodie has been on Instagram, practising on court.

wolf · Tennis legend

R1/L32: Heather Watson (GBR) / Yifan Xu (CHN) CR 91 (50+41) defeated Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) / Dayana Yastremska (UKR) CR 438 (120+318) by 6-2 6-3

Possibly plays the top seeds Hsieh & Mertens next whom Heather beat in Brisbane.

HarryGem · Club Coach

Nix wrote:
Helen40 wrote:
nicofrance wrote:
I really dont buy this excuse from Raducanu .

She played last Friday and now Wednesday . You really should be fit enough to cope with that .
I'm assuming it's mental fatigue too. I know that that is more energy zapping than physical for me - and fed cup would have taken it out of her. I think that she is still so new and inexperienced in knowing what she's capable of, plus having pushy parents (?) and an inconsistent team. I'm not expecting that she'll get her balance right any time soon re what she can manage. For me that's a big part of it, not just the raw talent and physical fitness side, although of course those need to be in place.
I agree with all of this. It's not fair to expect players to play brilliantly in all their matches. We don't always know what's going on for them. It also must be harder to come back after long term injury.
Emma practically won us the BJK tie with support from Katie. I'm guessing that was quite emotionally draining and then she's having to get straight back into two big tournaments. She probably would have ducked at least one of them if she could if they weren't mandatory or she wasn't contractually obliged to. Even before her injuries she'd had a number of niggles throughout her career so has rarely been able to play consistently to build up the physical and mental stamina you require to produce near your best from tournament to tournament.
I tend to look at people's progress over the year rather than on a tournament by tournament basis because there are bound to be dips.

I think there's some merit in all of the above. No one can be perfect every time they play but I have to say that watching the match it basically looked like Emma checked out in the second set and wasn't that bothered about losing. If she really was drained from her previous matched then fair enough and don't accept a wildcard when you know you can't really perform. Still a decent year so far all things considered.

She's unlikely to get a wildcard for Rome so would have to qualify. Maybe she should skip it and just get in a proper training block for Paris.

Well done to Harriet for qualifying, a shame she couldn't get through but a decent tournament for her considering her season so far.

Katie blew it really. A good chance to progress but just couldn't cope in the end. still learning in regards to the clay.

Var · Pro player

HarryGem wrote:
Nix wrote:
Helen40 wrote:
nicofrance wrote:
I really dont buy this excuse from Raducanu .

She played last Friday and now Wednesday . You really should be fit enough to cope with that .
I'm assuming it's mental fatigue too. I know that that is more energy zapping than physical for me - and fed cup would have taken it out of her. I think that she is still so new and inexperienced in knowing what she's capable of, plus having pushy parents (?) and an inconsistent team. I'm not expecting that she'll get her balance right any time soon re what she can manage. For me that's a big part of it, not just the raw talent and physical fitness side, although of course those need to be in place.
I agree with all of this. It's not fair to expect players to play brilliantly in all their matches. We don't always know what's going on for them. It also must be harder to come back after long term injury.
Emma practically won us the BJK tie with support from Katie. I'm guessing that was quite emotionally draining and then she's having to get straight back into two big tournaments. She probably would have ducked at least one of them if she could if they weren't mandatory or she wasn't contractually obliged to. Even before her injuries she'd had a number of niggles throughout her career so has rarely been able to play consistently to build up the physical and mental stamina you require to produce near your best from tournament to tournament.
I tend to look at people's progress over the year rather than on a tournament by tournament basis because there are bound to be dips.
I think there's some merit in all of the above. No one can be perfect every time they play but I have to say that watching the match it basically looked like Emma checked out in the second set and wasn't that bothered about losing. If she really was drained from her previous matched then fair enough and don't accept a wildcard when you know you can't really perform. Still a decent year so far all things considered.
She's unlikely to get a wildcard for Rome so would have to qualify. Maybe she should skip it and just get in a proper training block for Paris.

Well done to Harriet for qualifying, a shame she couldn't get through but a decent tournament for her considering her season so far.

Katie blew it really. A good chance to progress but just couldn't cope in the end. still learning in regards to the clay.

Some sources saying she will get a WC for Rome and Emma is confirmed for Strasbourg. Katie has never really developed form on clay. Overall the women have made an excellent start to this year with BJK victory and also Katies wta 500 title. The girls are doing really well - just watching Mika now in Nottingham. One bad match doesnt spoil a summer! Hope the men can get their act together.

Lambda · Challenger level

I'm not sure there are any WCs left for Rome. 6 have already been allocated and I think the other 2 may be reserved for the winners of the pre-quali event. There are 2 main draw and 2 qualifier WCs available for the men from the pre-quali so I assume the same is true for the women?

9vicman · Satellite level

And I think a little confusion about Raducanu in Strasbourg. As far as I see it, at this stage she is just on the entry list with her actual rather than protected ranking.

the addict · Tennis legend

L16:- Katie Boulter (GBR) / Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) CR1217 (1151/28 + 66/7) LOST TO Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR) / Jelena Ostapenko (UKR) CR37 (18/UNR + 19/10) [5] 3-6 (6)6-7

Katie served for the second set at 5-3, and Kichenok at 6-5. Still, a good effort against such a high-ranked pair

the addict · Tennis legend

L16:- Heather Watson (GBR) / Yifan Xu (CHN) CR 91 (50+41) v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) / Elise Mertens (BEL) CR3(1+2) [1]

9vicman · Satellite level

Robin Montgomery putting up a great performance against Sabalenka. I know there's no point comparing matches between A and B, and A and C, but she's obviously a talent.

the addict · Tennis legend

Heather's doubles is scheduled for Court 4 today, first match starting at 2pm