Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open - Main Draw - Melbourne (Hard)

LordBrownof · Futures level

Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open - Main Draw - Melbourne (Hard)

B00thy · Lower Club Player

LordBrownof wrote:

... Jodie has every chance, but I don't like the matchup - i.e., Jeanjeans game vs. Jodie's brain.

biggrin

Priesty · Challenger level

Rain stopped playing, Sonay yet to get on court....

DF · Tennis legend

Sonay on court.

She has lost the first set 1-6 and is 0-2 down in the second

PaulM · Tennis legend

Sonay getting absolutely smashed to bits. Pretty humbling so far, she's being made to look very average and it's not remotely competitive.

Some major lessons in this match for her and her team to learn from at least. Maybe turning up without having played a warmup wasn't the best idea...?

Still time, but not much of it.

-- Edited by PaulM on Sunday 12th of January 2025 08:23:00 AM

Priesty · Challenger level

Sonay's experience at this level, especially on surfaces other than grass, is still extremely minimal. Think I'd be advising to stick largely to 75Ks and 100Ks at least for the time being and ease herself in slowly where Tour events are concerned.

Var · Satellite level

Lack of adequate preparation is showing.I dont think it necessarily means she has to drop down in tournament level to all ITFs. Doesnt bode well for Emma and Jack though . It will be interesting to see how Jodie and Katie perform, given their better AO preparation.

-- Edited by Var on Sunday 12th of January 2025 08:35:44 AM

Spireman · Club Coach

She just broke back, *3-4, so despite the negativity she is still in it and could even turn it round from here.

Spireman · Club Coach

But broken again, down 3-5*.

PaulM · Tennis legend

The Spaniard has largely executed an excellent match, and Sonay has spent most of it watching balls flying past her rather than playing particularly badly. But there are a few areas she's not looked all that settled or sharp, and made a few bad decisions in important moments.

But as it gets to the finish line the Spaniard has noticeable tightened up and the right arm is looking stiff. Sonay saves a match point and now we might have a match.

5-5*

PaulM · Tennis legend

Gar. Sonay did a great job to make a match of it, but after going up *4-2 in the breaker she gets a little tentative. She retreats miles behind the base line and goes back to watching balls flying past her or she can barely get a racket on while running out into the corner.

At *5-5 she misses a backhand volley that while not straightforward she should have made, and it's done a few seconds later.

Spaniard the deserved winner. Sonay stayed calm when she was being routed and made the most of the opportunity she was given to get back into the match. But gosh, she could really have stolen that set.

Drat. One for the experience bank I guess. Shame, as would have been fun to see her have a swing against Sabalenka.

-- Edited by PaulM on Sunday 12th of January 2025 09:11:32 AM

paulisi · Tennis legend

Sonay couldn't cope with the power and accuracy for a set and a half. The Spanish girl hardly made an error.
Then the errors crept in and the match was fairly even and Sonay could easily have pinched the second set,

There is a big gulf in talent between the two. The Spanish girl will fly up the rankings, Sonay is probably over ranked

the addict · Tennis legend

R1:- Sonay Kartal (GBR) WR87 lost to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (ESP) WR52 1-6 (5)6-7

Thanks for the commentary - I only managed to see the last two games

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Sonay's main problem - as lots of people had pointed out - was that she hadn't played any warm-up matches

She was SO un-match sharp in the first set - it was all over the place

Mind you, her opponent hadn't played any either

And Sonay's heavy weighting to playing in the UK continues

But she was playing very short, rather a lot of errors, she definitely could have nicked the second set, but she didn't deserve to

I'm still batting OK with two wins prediction - Katie and Jodie - but I did think that Sonay would put out a better performance than that

adz1983 · Intermediate Club Player

I get the feeling she hasn't played many matches against Top 100 opponents. Could be wrong though.