British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

the addict · Tennis legend

RE: Week 23 - WTA500 - HSBC Championships, Queens, London

uhuru · Newbie

I agree. She should have tried to hit into the corners and forced Vecic to move from side to side.

B00thy · County player

Peter too wrote:
My feeling, which may be entirely wrong, is that Emma received the wrong advice when she was serving for the set at 5-2 up. She was advised to hit down the middle but that allowed Vekic to get a clean shot and once again started overpowering Emma. Emma had reached 5-2 by making Vekic run by hitting to the corners and sidelines. Vekic tried to swing at the ball and did achieve a number of magical shots but also hit a larger number of errors. I felt the way to beat Vekic is to stop her getting an easy swing at the ball because then her power wins out.

I thought I head something different, something like "down the middle if tight (or under pressure or something like that) otherwise in the corners (or wide or deep or something like that)"

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
My feeling, which may be entirely wrong, is that Emma received the wrong advice when she was serving for the set at 5-2 up. She was advised to hit down the middle but that allowed Vekic to get a clean shot and once again started overpowering Emma. Emma had reached 5-2 by making Vekic run by hitting to the corners and sidelines. Vekic tried to swing at the ball and did achieve a number of magical shots but also hit a larger number of errors. I felt the way to beat Vekic is to stop her getting an easy swing at the ball because then her power wins out.
I thought I head something different, something like "down the middle if tight (or under pressure or something like that) otherwise in the corners (or wide or deep or something like that)"

Yes, I heard it from the commentators reporting what he'd said, rather than firsthand, so not from the horse's mouth, so to speak

But the commentators said he was telling her to hit down the middle when under pressure to get herself back in the point and then to go for the corners when she was in command

GAMEOVER · Futures qualifying

Interestingly Donna Vekic has won a British grass court tournament before beating a British opponent in the final. That was back in 2017 when she beat Jo Konta in the Nottingham final. However a couple of weeks later Jo had her revenge at Wimbledon winning 12-10 in the final set. As Donna's best results have been on grass why did our pundits pick Katie and Emma to beat Donna. Donna was only 2 points away from the 2024 Wimbledon final but some compensation came with the silver medal at the Olympics. It was also pointed out that the runner up at Queens last year went on to reach the Wimbledon final. I 'll not mention the final score.

Peter too · Tennis legend

B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
My feeling, which may be entirely wrong, is that Emma received the wrong advice when she was serving for the set at 5-2 up. She was advised to hit down the middle but that allowed Vekic to get a clean shot and once again started overpowering Emma. Emma had reached 5-2 by making Vekic run by hitting to the corners and sidelines. Vekic tried to swing at the ball and did achieve a number of magical shots but also hit a larger number of errors. I felt the way to beat Vekic is to stop her getting an easy swing at the ball because then her power wins out.
I thought I head something different, something like "down the middle if tight (or under pressure or something like that) otherwise in the corners (or wide or deep or something like that)"

Yes you are right that was the full quote but it did seem to have the effect of Emma playing down the middle rather more than before and only occasionally going for the corners and that gave Donna more chance to use her full power.

Tennpar · Club Coach

Late congratulations to Liv & Thereza in the dubs - really pleased for them holding their nerve and getting a big win at home smile

the addict · Tennis legend

Tennpar wrote:
Late congratulations to Liv & Thereza in the dubs - really pleased for them holding their nerve and getting a big win at home

No mention of their win in The TImes, and just one sentence on the BBC at the end of a long article about Emma.

JonH · Tennis legend

the addict wrote:
Tennpar wrote:
Late congratulations to Liv & Thereza in the dubs - really pleased for them holding their nerve and getting a big win at home
No mention of their win in The TImes, and just one sentence on the BBC at the end of a long article about Emma.

I see Liv is just one spot of a CH ranking and almost top 20 as well. A 500 level title is a really good performance, hope they progress this week at Berlin 500 as well. Theyve gone 11th in the Race but pairs above them arent in action this week so could move up from there.

the addict · Tennis legend

JonH wrote:
the addict wrote:
Tennpar wrote:
Late congratulations to Liv & Thereza in the dubs - really pleased for them holding their nerve and getting a big win at home
No mention of their win in The TImes, and just one sentence on the BBC at the end of a long article about Emma.
I see Liv is just one spot of a CH ranking and almost top 20 as well. A 500 level title is a really good performance, hope they progress this week at Berlin 500 as well. Theyve gone 11th in the Race but pairs above them arent in action this week so could move up from there.

They are defending their Berlin title from last year, but have drawn the #2 seeds, so I'm not expecting much after this week's run.

Tennpar · Club Coach

the addict wrote:
JonH wrote:
the addict wrote:
Tennpar wrote:
Late congratulations to Liv & Thereza in the dubs - really pleased for them holding their nerve and getting a big win at home
No mention of their win in The TImes, and just one sentence on the BBC at the end of a long article about Emma.
I see Liv is just one spot of a CH ranking and almost top 20 as well. A 500 level title is a really good performance, hope they progress this week at Berlin 500 as well. Theyve gone 11th in the Race but pairs above them arent in action this week so could move up from there.
They are defending their Berlin title from last year, but have drawn the #2 seeds, so I'm not expecting much after this week's run.

I'm feeling more confident after yesterday's performance - they do need to sort out who goes for what ball though -confusion reigned a few times in volley situations

B00thy · County player

Peter too wrote:
B00thy wrote:
Peter too wrote:
My feeling, which may be entirely wrong, is that Emma received the wrong advice when she was serving for the set at 5-2 up. She was advised to hit down the middle but that allowed Vekic to get a clean shot and once again started overpowering Emma. Emma had reached 5-2 by making Vekic run by hitting to the corners and sidelines. Vekic tried to swing at the ball and did achieve a number of magical shots but also hit a larger number of errors. I felt the way to beat Vekic is to stop her getting an easy swing at the ball because then her power wins out.
I thought I head something different, something like "down the middle if tight (or under pressure or something like that) otherwise in the corners (or wide or deep or something like that)"
Yes you are right that was the full quote but it did seem to have the effect of Emma playing down the middle rather more than before and only occasionally going for the corners and that gave Donna more chance to use her full power.

Agreed. Indeed, when I heard that advice I thought that he was unwittingly providing her with a main message of "play down the middle unless .." as opposed to saying, try and hit the corners unless you have to play down the middle"

The exact wording used in such moments are very important I feel