2017 Miami Open. WTA Premier Mandatory.

Who will win in Miami?

  • Kerber

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Pliskova

    Votes: 6 54.5%

  • Halep

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Cibulkova

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Radwanska

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Muguruza

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Kuznetsova

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Keys

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Svitolina

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other?

    Votes: 5 45.5%
  • Total voters
    11
  • Poll closed .
Not unexpected at all. Konta is a really bad matchup for her. She could trouble her even in 2015 when she wasn't half as good as she is today.

I would've rather she faced either of the other two than JoKo.
 
skyline said:
Not unexpected at all. Konta is a really bad matchup for her. She could trouble her even in 2015 when she wasn't half as good as she is today.

I would've rather she faced either of the other two than JoKo.
Click to expand...

Really wishing i did my research before picking venus in my multi :(
 
Venus definitely needs to go for more angles, but not too short. Konta loves taking the ball so early!
 
Yikes what a scoreline by Caroline.

Didn't watch the match but judging by Karolina losing the last 2 sets 1-6 1-6, I'm guessing ugly Pliskova came to play.

That's the problem with Pliskova. It's easy to forget following her meteoric rise last year, but she can play some real ugly tennis. Remember that she never went past the 3R of a slam until her run to the US Open final last year. Always managed to choke or play horribly. She's improved in the past 12 months but we do see her ugly tennis come out at times. The Ostapenko match at the Aus Open comes to mind. She would've lost that if it wasn't for Jelena choking massively.
 
Too bad about that successful dropshot of Konta's that brought it to 15-40 for her in that last service game. Had Venus managed to make it 30-30, she might have put serious pressure on Konta. Losing three in a row would be tough & Konta might have unraveled from there.

A must-hold now or this set is done.
 
Also, Wozniacki has a real chance to get near the top of the rankings. She missed the entire clay court season last year so she has no points to defend, not one. Additionally, on grass she only won about 100 points thanks to a 1R Wimbledon loss. She doesnt really have any points to defend until the USO SF. That's how good her end of 2016 was and start of 2017 has been.

She can get top 3 with the way she's going...
 
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Crucial hold for Venus now. She looked furious, too, though that surely would've been just with herself.

I'm glad she's steadied herself somewhat.
 
Venus should've sprinted to that dropshot on second BP.

Missed it, and then couldn't do much against two clutch serves from Konta. Now has to serve to stay in the set. I don't expect an easy hold.
 
Yeah she's totally gonna serve it out.

Venus NEEDED to sprint to that damn dropshot; she's amazing but her age shows when she can't get to those. It was a fine dropshot but nothing she couldn't have made a few years back.
 
And to make it worse, Konta has tended to raise level in the 2nd, so the likelihood is good she's gonna become more unmanageable after serving this out.
 
Dropshot working well for Konta to set up a second set point (though Venus did make it, but too late to position herself well). Sigh.

EDIT: Wow, gorgeous net play from Venus to save that second point.
 
3rd set point....

And she gets it. Venus overhits on return. Which is too bad b/c that didn't look like an impossible 2nd serve.
 
MichaelNadal said:
Venus had her chances, one horrible service game. Hard to see her winning now, hope I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what's frustrating about it - JoKo isn't at her best. Nowhere near AO match against Woz for instance, where she simply took Woz to the cleaners with brutal first serves. Woz was powerless, but Venus isn't; she can play against this JoKo pretty evenly if she gets it together. And I favor Woz against this JoKo in the finals as well.

Again, no idea why the heck she chooses to serve first. She ALWAYS has slow starts.

As I said, I think Konta will become more unmanageable now, but hope I'm wrong.
 
see how smart Venus is, hitting with more air and spin now because Konta is matching her powerful flat strokes and taking time away.

reminds me of Venus' match against Henin in SC years ago on green clay...
 
Aussie Darcy said:
Also, Wozniacki has a real chance to get near the top of the rankings. She missed the entire clay court season last year so she has no points to defend, not one. Additionally, on grass she only won about 100 points thanks to a 1R Wimbledon loss. She doesnt really have any points to defend until the USO SF. That's how good her end of 2016 was and start of 2017 has been.

She can get top 3 with the way she's going...
Click to expand...

Wozniacki's record this year isn't ridiculously off from her record of the first three months in 2011 as no. 1. 2011: 2 titles, 1 SF, 1 R16, 1F, one 2R exit (1R was bye of course).

This year: 3 Fs (counting Miami - could turn into a title), 1 3R, 3 QFs.

Of course 2011 was still the better year (3R at AO this year, vs. SF in 2011). But she'd have made it farther had she not bumped into red-hot Konta in the 3R. Bad draw there.

She realistically deserves a t10 ranking right now.
 
Konta just really places dropshots when she needs them. And Venus either can't make them, or can't make them in time to position herself. Sigh.
 
ACE of Hearts said:
It seems like she's hanging on to dear life with her serve everytime.
Click to expand...

Well she's had her own opportunities against Konta's serve. But plain and simple, she needs her very best serving day against what I rate to be the third best server on WTA right now (after Serena & Pliskova). Something like the way she served with Svetlana. And she rarely serves that well these days.

Most of the time her serve is kinda scratchy and it's really her good hitting, net play, tough mentality, etc. that gets her out of trouble.

Seriously, most players manage to get a break of service against Venus. It's just that they're not so strong on the serve themselves that she can't get it back. Konta is. You can't just go down on your serve against her and expect to make it up easy.
 
Personally, I don't at all think Konta is in Venus's head. I think Venus is beyond that stuff (and no offense to Jo, but Venus has handled HoF players, which JoKo has yet to be). How she's serving tonight is how she serves on many days. She didn't serve brilliantly against Angelique either, but luckily for her Angelique isn't half the server Konta is.
 
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