Coup Droit wrote:

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adz1983 wrote:

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dodrade wrote:

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9vicman wrote:

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Two Top 50 wins in straight sets. Hanging tough. It occurs to me that no British player has every match under the microscope like Emma does.

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 Since her US Open victory Emma has been held to an Impossibly high standard by the press. If she doesn't win a tournament every week it's regarded as failure and a source of shame for her to still earn money from sponsorship deals.

Ironically since Murray's retirement Emma is the only British player they actually care about. Jodie just lost in Qualifying and R1 in successive weeks while Jack Draper smashed several racquets losing in the Davis Cup but still hobnobbed with celebrities at London Fashion Week afterwards. If Emma had done either she would have been crucified in the press but as they have otherwise no real interest in British Tennis there was barely a mention.

 

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 It's crazy really when you think about it. The pressure she must feel is unbelievable. The WTA don't help... she is the top 2 stories on their front page. In her last 6 tournaments she has reached 3 WTA500 QFs and counting, 1 WTA250 semi-final and 4th Round Wimbledon. These are excellent results for someone who was on the operating table last year and started 2024 ranked about 300. Which other 1-time grand slam winners have faced as much scrutiny as Emma? 

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 I'm not sure I completely agree with this. The media focus is precisely because she won the US Open and because she has so many ultra high-profile sponsorship deals

Obviously if she didn't have the mega fashion guru sponsors, if she wasn't such a 'public' figure - which is her choice - then there would be less focus. But she does, because of her choice. 

She has the money and the name to build herself a little enclave, you can't get all the accolades when things go well and then say people should leave her alone when things don't.

I think the most important thing for Emma is to have a solid coach in her corner - she's looked like a lost sheep some of the time in the past couple of years (nothing to do with injuries). I'm hoping that Nick can provide that. Because then Emma can do her thing - and a very impressive 'thing' it can be  

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 I agree CD. Emma, maybe gets a hard time from certain quarters but for whatever reason (and there have been a lot of injuries of course) her results since her US Open win have not really been what you would have expected.  There are a few players you could bracket in the same category (Andreescu for eg) who have a lot of talent but have not managed to live up to it for a given long period of time. Yet despite really having little significance currently on the tennis court  (ie not winning tournaments) still maintain a high profile on social media and in the press which is largely their decision.

Of course I suspect there's a certain amount of jealousy involved where you have successful and wealthy young women who are an easy target which isn't to justify anything the players get in terms of criticism.

I'd say, though, that Emma and her team have not really helped themselves at times and her profile has been raised to such an extent that it is impossible for her to be out of the limelight which is probably just what her tennis career could use right now.

I was saddened to wake up this morning and see yet another retirement/injury. GB women's tennis need Emma to be fit , healthy and successful, not just for the pleasure of seeing a GB woman succeed on court but also for helping to maintain the presence of the sport in the media and with a wider public which in turn brings in both more spectators and more young people into playing the game which is what we need and want. for all their success this year other GB players just don't seem to have that star quality which can do this in the way Emma can.

Let's hope it isn't a serious injury as the last thing she needs is another lengthy break from playing. 

What a pity 

I just so wish she could get the chance of a really consistent run of tournaments ( though still a bit confusing as to how much she needed that post US Open break ). The evidence seems to be that that would bring a level of consistently higher class tennis and partly shut some folk up.

Hopefully the foot problem can be sorted relatively quickly.

indiana wrote:

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What a pity 

I just so wish she could get the chance of a really consistent run of tournaments ( though still a bit confusing as to how much she needed that post US Open break ). The evidence seems to be that that would bring a level of consistently higher class tennis and partly shut some folk up.

Hopefully the foot problem can be sorted relatively quickly.

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 I seem to remember she had some treatment on her foot in the previous round, so hopefully today's retirement is just precautionary to give it a few days to recover.

the addict wrote:

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indiana wrote:

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What a pity 

I just so wish she could get the chance of a really consistent run of tournaments ( though still a bit confusing as to how much she needed that post US Open break ). The evidence seems to be that that would bring a level of consistently higher class tennis and partly shut some folk up.

Hopefully the foot problem can be sorted relatively quickly.

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 I seem to remember she had some treatment on her foot in the previous round, so hopefully today's retirement is just precautionary to give it a few days to recover.

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 She said herself after going out of the US Open that she needs to 'play more' - but there's no sign of that happening.

9vicman wrote:

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indiana wrote:

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Maybe then, having lost the first set, she should have just kept playing with a clear injury and struggling on serve and so potentially injure it more and be out for more time - partly to avoid criticism? 

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 Quite. She's entered Chinese events the next three weeks so certainly has a full schedule ahead injury notwithstanding. 

That said she's entered two 1000 events and Ningbo 500 (which is stacked) so might be difficult to get a run of matches.

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 hey Vicman - can i ask, where do you see the entry lists these days? Like Ningbo or the other events or Emmas schedule - is there a site? Or does one laboriously search each event?

JonH comes home wrote:

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9vicman wrote:

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indiana wrote:

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Maybe then, having lost the first set, she should have just kept playing with a clear injury and struggling on serve and so potentially injure it more and be out for more time - partly to avoid criticism? 

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 Quite. She's entered Chinese events the next three weeks so certainly has a full schedule ahead injury notwithstanding. 

That said she's entered two 1000 events and Ningbo 500 (which is stacked) so might be difficult to get a run of matches.

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 hey Vicman - can i ask, where do you see the entry lists these days? Like Ningbo or the other events or Emmas schedule - is there a site? Or does one laboriously search each event?

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 The live rankings site has a schedule tab: https://live-tennis.eu/en/wta-schedule