British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

RE: week 32 - WTA1000 - Cincinnati, USA Hard

indiana · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
Mervatron2 wrote:
As Fran hasnt played for a few weeks I dont think having to qualify would be a bad thing.
But the guaranteed money, $110k I think, would be massive, I am sure she would welcome that than battle through three rounds of qualies in the New York heat!

Absolutely, Jon, and on hard courts in that potential heat there is a fair chance of her not coming through qualifying.

I do hope that she can yet squeeze into the MD.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

JonH comes home wrote:
Mervatron2 wrote:
As Fran hasnt played for a few weeks I dont think having to qualify would be a bad thing.
But the guaranteed money, $110k I think, would be massive, I am sure she would welcome that than battle through three rounds of qualies in the New York heat!

Absolutely

DF · Tennis legend

Also she might not be fit enough to play three high intense matches so close together in the heat of the New York sun.

jb288 · Satellite level

When are the tours going to face facts and accept that the US in August is now too hot?

At least move the tournaments to the coasts or something where it's cooler...

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

jb288 wrote:
When are the tours going to face facts and accept that the US in August is now too hot?

At least move the tournaments to the coasts or something where it's cooler...

Yes. Though too hot everywhere.

It was 41.5 degrees where I was yesterday.

Just ridiculous

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Global warming is a real problem for the Slams, isn't it. Our own weather is so unpredictable, but the Aussie Open and US Open have often reached crazy temperatures - it becomes such a massive factor that it is a case of which players can best cope with extreme temperatures and still play reasonably well.

I think it is obvious that players brought up in hotter countries have a distinct advantage, as it you experience very hot temperatures from childhood onwards, then as an adult, your body is going to do a lot better when it is really hot.

I would go as far as to say in footbal, for instance, the biggest reason that England have never won a World Cup or European Championship since 1966 is that during hot conditions in summer tournaments, they are unable to play at the fast pace that you see in the Premier League, week in week out.

Whenever our players struggle in extreme heat in the Slams, I am always one or the ones to mention factoring that in to the equation.

The only rider to that is that Fran seems to be very good in the heat - two wins in Colombia tournaments in recent years, if my memory serves me correct, and both beating pretty highly ranked players.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Andy Parker wrote:
Global warming is a real problem for the Slams, isn't it. Our own weather is so unpredictable, but the Aussie Open and US Open have often reached crazy temperatures - it becomes such a massive factor that it is a case of which players can best cope with extreme temperatures and still play reasonably well.

I think it is obvious that players brought up in hotter countries have a distinct advantage, as it you experience very hot temperatures from childhood onwards, then as an adult, your body is going to do a lot better when it is really hot.

I would go as far as to say in footbal, for instance, the biggest reason that England have never won a World Cup or European Championship since 1966 is that during hot conditions in summer tournaments, they are unable to play at the fast pace that you see in the Premier League, week in week out.

Whenever our players struggle in extreme heat in the Slams, I am always one or the ones to mention factoring that in to the equation.

The only rider to that is that Fran seems to be very good in the heat - two wins in Colombia tournaments in recent years, if my memory serves me correct, and both beating pretty highly ranked players.

Which probably backs up your argument as she, in fact, spent near most all her teenage years in Spain

indiana · Tennis legend

Veronika Kudermetova plays Magda Linette in the L16 tonight.

Current live rankings:
#34 Kudermetova
#35 Raducanu
#36 Linette

If Linette beats Kudermetova she will pass both Kudermetova and Raducanu and effectively guarantee herself a US Open seeding spot ( with the two known absentees ) at the expense of Kudermetova, who would then be first in line looking for another withdrawal before the draw.

There is now just one other player, apart from Linette, who can overtake Emma - that's Varvara Gracheva, currently into the QF ( to face Kudermetova or Linette ) but would have to win the title here.

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Kudermertova beat Linette 6-4 6-3, so I guess that means unless Gracheva wins the tournament, that Emms needs one more seed to pull out of the US Open to make the top 32. Pretty tight then.

Interesting post Coup - I hadn't realised that Fran had been brought up in Spain.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Andy Parker wrote:
Kudermertova beat Linette 6-4 6-3, so I guess that means unless Gracheva wins the tournament, that Emms needs one more seed to pull out of the US Open to make the top 32. Pretty tight then.

Interesting post Coup - I hadn't realised that Fran had been brought up in Spain.

Just for precision, she went to an academy there - which is not quite the same as 'brought up', I guess.

But it's one of the reasons she's good on clay, and why she likes South America - she obviously speaks excellent Spanish

She went to a tennis academy in Barcelona, when she was about 10

The LTA would not have been interested in her.

Her doctors had said she had no hope as a pro tennis player, given her condition.

And, by her own words, she wasn't a natural athlete and loved Cadburys too much smile

So she didn't have any real pathway in the UK

But, yes, she does back up your point about players who are adapted to hot weather as children generally having an advantage in the heat (although Fran does seem to have certain problems in the heat too but that's a more specific thing - she seems prone to intense cramps which I think is linked to her condition - it doesn't detract from your point that, when not cramping, she plays better in heat than the average player)

B00thy · Club Coach

Peter too wrote:
Emma has played 17 tournaments this year, so 17 losses. Seven of those losses were to players ranked inside the top five and nine of the losses were to players inside the top 20. Emma could do with a tournament where she doesn't meet a top five player until at least the QF. It would make a nice change.

This is a fascinating area of stats .. the nine you mention .. do you mean to say 9 in top 20 in total or 9 were players inside the top 20 but outside the top 5? i.e. 16 of 17 inside the top 20. Either way it's a good indication of Emma's level of play as opposed to her ranking - i.e. who she can beat rather than how many points she has amassed in the last year. Is this info available in a website somewhere I could take a look at? Thanks

Peter too · Tennis legend

B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
Emma has played 17 tournaments this year, so 17 losses. Seven of those losses were to players ranked inside the top five and nine of the losses were to players inside the top 20. Emma could do with a tournament where she doesn't meet a top five player until at least the QF. It would make a nice change.
This is a fascinating area of stats .. the nine you mention .. do you mean to say 9 in top 20 in total or 9 were players inside the top 20 but outside the top 5? i.e. 16 of 17 inside the top 20. Either way it's a good indication of Emma's level of play as opposed to her ranking - i.e. who she can beat rather than how many points she has amassed in the last year. Is this info available in a website somewhere I could take a look at? Thanks

These are the rankings of players Emma has lost to since the start of the year.

1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 17, 26, 36, 37, 46, 48, 51, 52, 101

B00thy · Club Coach

Peter too wrote:
B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
Emma has played 17 tournaments this year, so 17 losses. Seven of those losses were to players ranked inside the top five and nine of the losses were to players inside the top 20. Emma could do with a tournament where she doesn't meet a top five player until at least the QF. It would make a nice change.
This is a fascinating area of stats .. the nine you mention .. do you mean to say 9 in top 20 in total or 9 were players inside the top 20 but outside the top 5? i.e. 16 of 17 inside the top 20. Either way it's a good indication of Emma's level of play as opposed to her ranking - i.e. who she can beat rather than how many points she has amassed in the last year. Is this info available in a website somewhere I could take a look at? Thanks
These are the rankings of players Emma has lost to since the start of the year.
1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 17, 26, 36, 37, 46, 48, 51, 52, 101

Thanks Peter .. you've sparked my curiosity ..

Peter too · Tennis legend

B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
Emma has played 17 tournaments this year, so 17 losses. Seven of those losses were to players ranked inside the top five and nine of the losses were to players inside the top 20. Emma could do with a tournament where she doesn't meet a top five player until at least the QF. It would make a nice change.
This is a fascinating area of stats .. the nine you mention .. do you mean to say 9 in top 20 in total or 9 were players inside the top 20 but outside the top 5? i.e. 16 of 17 inside the top 20. Either way it's a good indication of Emma's level of play as opposed to her ranking - i.e. who she can beat rather than how many points she has amassed in the last year. Is this info available in a website somewhere I could take a look at? Thanks
These are the rankings of players Emma has lost to since the start of the year.
1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 17, 26, 36, 37, 46, 48, 51, 52, 101
Thanks Peter .. you've sparked my curiosity ..

Emma started the year badly, winning only 3 matches in her first six tournaments. She has improved noticeably in the 2nd half of the year. If you remove those first six losses the loss list for the most recent 11 matches is.

1,1,3,4,5,5,7,36,46,48,51.

The list is very noticeably weighted towards the top end. She is now beating virtually all players ranked outside the top 50 but losing to players in the top 8.