2017 WTA Premier 5 Italian Open.

[Nostradamus]

Simona Was the definite favorite going into the French open,, BUT now with injury,,,,she is very doubtful...........So who is the new Favorite ???????? Svitolina with very little experience ????????????? LOL WTA has become a JOKE, folks

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Halep can't catch a break. What a time to roll your ankle. French Open won't have Serena, Maria, Kvitova or Vika and she does that? Christ.

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

Eli's rise in 2017 has been so enjoyable.

 

[Nostradamus]

and LOOK at the stands and SEE all the Empty seats for the FINAL....................... and you want Equal prize money ???????????????????? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Aussie Darcy]

In other news, some serious bakery is being made in Strasbourg.

Stosur won 6-0 6-1 over Ding Yuan.
Puig won 6-1 6-0 over Boserup.
Ash Barty is up 6-0 3-0 on Buyukakcay

 

[ScentOfDefeat]

Halep can't catch a break. What a time to roll your ankle. French Open won't have Serena, Maria, Kvitova or Vika and she does that? Christ.

One is almost inclined to say that somehow, at an unconscious level, she is sabotaging herself.

 

[Nostradamus]

Halep can't catch a break. What a time to roll your ankle. French Open won't have Serena, Maria, Kvitova or Vika and she does that? Christ.

Right,,, so who is the fav ? you have to say Svitolina...who is in Great form. and best shape of her life.......and she is CUTE. so I want her to win the French but she seem to be bit frazile mentally..........she almost choked at the end of the Italian final there......so what will happen if she gets to French open final ??

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Svitolina in Premier 5's this year:
Won Dubai
Won Rome

Svitolina in Premier Mandatory's this year:
4R lost to Muguruza - Indian Wells
2R (with bye) lost to WC Mattek Sands - Miami
1R lost to Qualifier Zheng Saisai - Madrid

 

[ScentOfDefeat]

At this point, Venus and Kuznetsova could win the French. I mean, it's literally this:

(01:30)

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Ash Barty about to double bagel Cagla.

Stosur served for one earlier but got broken, she won 6-0 6-1 though.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

At this point, Venus and Kuznetsova could win the French. I mean, it's literally this:

(01:30)

Imagine Venus finally getting her career slam in singles, almost 10 years after her last slam!

 

[Nostradamus]

LOL,, trophy presenter can't speak word of English and making a mockery of English language...... She won't be at the Italian open next year

 

[Bogdan_TT]

and LOOK at the stands and SEE all the Empty seats for the FINAL....................... and you want Equal prize money ???????????????????? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Come on, they played for full 2 hours #feminism

 

[Nostradamus]

and she broke the trophy ,,,is this bad omen ?

 

[Bogdan_TT]

LOL,, trophy presenter can't speak word of English and making a mockery of English language...... She won't be at the Italian open next year

Do you think Italians care about that? Didn't you see the actual courts? They looked like bloody Vesuvius

 

[Nostradamus]

Come on, they played for full 2 hours #feminism

look at it man,,, Men's Doubles final has more people in the Stands ......................LOL

 

[Nostradamus]

Do you think Italians care about that? Didn't you see the actual courts? They looked like bloody Vesuvius

yes,, they should.....if it wasn't for USA protection, they would be a small providence of Russian empire..

 

[Nostradamus]

Imagine Venus finally getting her career slam in singles, almost 10 years after her last slam!

Not happening ,,,, Venus doesn't play well on clay especially with that flat strokes.. and this is over 2 weeks and she will run out of energy after 1 week due to her illness, unfornately. and this is not same as Aussie open due to much much longer rallies and longer match times

 

[La Grande]

I saw Svitolina beat Halep earlier for the trophy and she hardly celebrated. Weird.

 

[fundrazer]

At this point, Venus and Kuznetsova could win the French. I mean, it's literally this:

(01:30)

Kuznetsova maybe has a chance. Venus?

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

 

[JRAJ1988]

She goes to number 6 in the World.

Elina could get to number 1 if she makes a breakthrough at the slams. She's a fighter and never gives up.

 

[sportmac]

and LOOK at the stands and SEE all the Empty seats for the FINAL....................... and you want Equal prize money ???????????????????? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Looked like a good crowd to me. Some up front seats empty but you never know if those were corporate.

 

[Nostradamus]

I saw Svitolina beat Halep earlier for the trophy and she hardly celebrated. Weird.

Svitolina is focused on Bigger better prize French open. this is just desert

 

[cc0509]

At this point, Venus and Kuznetsova could win the French. I mean, it's literally this:

With the current WTA and which player will win the FO, you may as well take 10 of the most likely winners and put their names in a hat and pull out one name and you will have as much probable success as if you tried to logically look at the draw and pick the winner.

In complete seriousness, I've never seen the WTA top ten this poor where there aren't any consistent winners of big titles at the top. We had Kerber but she's currently lost. Halep is the best of a bad lot on clay but she will never have the ultimate consistency and mental fortitude needed to win big titles week after week. Muguruza is an embarrassment. She's like Jekyll and Hyde, you never know which version you will get from day to day but most of time it's not a good version. Pliskova is mostly a dumb ballbasher who also is weak in the mental fortitude area. Konta has promise but is an anxious crybaby at times. Who else is there? The rest aren't worthy of mention IMO.

Azarenka and Kvitova can't come back soon enough and I know many people are Sharapova haters given her current situation, but I'll take her over the whole WTA combined in terms of a likely winner if she can overcome her obstacles at the moment.

 

[Moose Malloy]

^your description sounds a lot like the 97, 98, 99 French Opens on the men side. They were completely wide open and the winners reflected that.

 

[PDJ]

Congratulations Svitolina.
But bigger congratulations to Hingis/Chan.
Hingis took her 101st tournament title (not including mixed). Impressive.

 

[PDJ]

With the current WTA and which player will win the FO, you may as well take 10 of the most likely winners and put their names in a hat and pull out one name and you will have as much probable success as if you tried to logically look at the draw and pick the winner.

In complete seriousness, I've never seen the WTA top ten this poor where there aren't any consistent winners of big titles at the top. We had Kerber but she's currently lost. Halep is the best of a bad lot on clay but she will never have the ultimate consistency and mental fortitude needed to win big titles week after week. Muguruza is an embarrassment. She's like Jekyll and Hyde, you never know which version you will get from day to day but most of time it's not a good version. Pliskova is mostly a dumb ballbasher who also is weak in the mental fortitude area. Konta has promise but is an anxious crybaby at times. Who else is there? The rest aren't worthy of mention IMO.

Azarenka and Kvitova can't come back soon enough and I know many people are Sharapova haters given her current situation, but I'll take her over the whole WTA combined in terms of a likely winner if she can overcome her obstacles at the moment.

I more or less agree with this (I do think Pliskova is better than a ball basher but is mentally weak - but most of them are)
Halep, whilst she's been playing well (for her) still uses limited strategy and could actually be the best if she wasn't so afraid of taking advantage of her approach shots and actually approach.
Kerber's 2017 is basically an embarrassment for a no.1, she's more an average top twenty player. Not that says much as the top twenty can seemingly lose or beat anyone in the top fifty.
There are some nice intelligent players out there but I can't think of one that knock the cover off the ball whilst employing strategy and touch. And, mental strength.
I also agree the game needs Sharapova. Venus and Hingis aside, there is no true superstar. And I'm not a fan.
A Davenport or Clijsters (even a Capriati) would clean up now.

 

[Pagoo]

Muguruza's attitude is pathetic.

She should reach out to Nishikori or Raonic. Either one should be a suitable partner for her (if she's single of course).

 

[Pagoo]

Congrats to Svitolina on her win. I wonder who is going to step up and seize the golden opportunity at the French open. My money is on a first time slam winner. I don't really have a favorite right now but I'll be rooting for Venus and a few others.

 

[PDJ]

Congrats to Svitolina on her win. I wonder who is going to step up and seize the golden opportunity at the French open. My money is on a first time slam winner. I don't really have a favorite right now but I'll be rooting for Venus and a few others.

Is it actually possible to root for someone? It's just a disappointment and a waste of energy. But, I'll follow Konta (and she is possibly the only one that I do get excited/exasperated about).
I'd like Cornet to do well because she's a one-off character.
Frankly, I'm looking forward to Wimbledon more when the players actually have to take some chances and employ a semblance of strategy.
I am, however, looking forward to the mens tournament at RG.

 

[PDJ]

With the current WTA and which player will win the FO, you may as well take 10 of the most likely winners and put their names in a hat and pull out one name and you will have as much probable success as if you tried to logically look at the draw and pick the winner.

In complete seriousness, I've never seen the WTA top ten this poor where there aren't any consistent winners of big titles at the top. We had Kerber but she's currently lost. Halep is the best of a bad lot on clay but she will never have the ultimate consistency and mental fortitude needed to win big titles week after week. Muguruza is an embarrassment. She's like Jekyll and Hyde, you never know which version you will get from day to day but most of time it's not a good version. Pliskova is mostly a dumb ballbasher who also is weak in the mental fortitude area. Konta has promise but is an anxious crybaby at times. Who else is there? The rest aren't worthy of mention IMO.

Azarenka and Kvitova can't come back soon enough and I know many people are Sharapova haters given her current situation, but I'll take her over the whole WTA combined in terms of a likely winner if she can overcome her obstacles at the moment.

Halep nearly agrees with you, except she thinks one of fifteen players could win it.

This article, however upbeat they try to be, is really rather depressing indictment of the state of the WTA....

https://2017.rolandgarros.com/en_FR...ld_for_womens_title_at_rolandgarros_2017.html

 

[boredone3456]

I would say the FO favorites are at this point:

Halep- unless her ankle is really bad she is miraculously playing like she cares again. Some strong clay performances this year and a former finalist at the event in 2014. Is her head in it? who knows, I doubt even she could tell you that.

Svitolina- just won Rome, beating her nemesis Pliskova en route. Best year of her life so far, doesn't she lead in titles won this year right now? Can't overlook her.

Pliskova- maybe the possibility of being #1 is messing with her but she's still one of the strongest on tour right now. If she finds that confidence she could easily go far

Dark Horses
Kuznetsova- NEVER count her out. Anytime you do she surprises you. Former champion here, has had something of a career resurgence lately, and we all know she can play matches that last 3 hours like its nothing haha. I wouldn't be surprised to see her go deep or burn out early.

Muguruza- Well she is the defending champion so we can't totally count her out here. Until she did whatever she did to make herself retire in Rome she did look like she has finally woken up a little bit.

Mladenovic- The home town girl, did just make the finals in Madrid where she lost to hot girl Halep in a 3 set battle. The French hasn't seen a hometown girl win the singles trophy in 17 years..so pressure is on. Wonder how she'll take that.

then there is everyone else. Honestly this is so wide open I wouldn't be surprised if someone besides the 6 ladies above won it. Anything is possible.

 

[FakeEmpire]

Poor Halep is really starting to resemble Charlie Brown:

 

[boredone3456]

Just noticed Kvitova is seeded 15th for the French...Wonder if she's really ready and will be happy to have her back if she is

 

[cc0509]

Halep nearly agrees with you, except she thinks one of fifteen players could win it.

This article, however upbeat they try to be, is really rather depressing indictment of the state of the WTA....

https://2017.rolandgarros.com/en_FR...ld_for_womens_title_at_rolandgarros_2017.html

Halep should be taking this glaring opportunity and running with it. I sure would. She is clearly the best clay court player in the top ten these days but there's something missing with Halep, i.e. the champion's mentality gene where she may not believe she can do it or she fears it, etc. This is her best shot for the FO title.

 

[ALEXT]

I was disappointed with Halep's loss as she had the match in her hands before the incident and she was playing really well. Unfortunately, the injury rattled her physically and probably mentally and she couldn't overcome it although she appeared to try at least in the second. Would've been a huge confidence builder for her to win two major tournaments back to back going into RG. It seems like she should be OK for RG - according to Romanian media she only needs about 3 days rest.

As for the favorite for RG, I think the field is wide open now that Serena is not in; the rest of the players are in the same ballpark and anyone can win - and this includes other big names like Sharapova, Azarenka, Kvitova; their participation would not change the competition landscape anyway as they are not above the rest of the top players by any means, especially not on clay and not at the moment. Sharapova still needs matches and wins under her belt before being a real threat and Azarenka and Kvitova would not be in the winning form anyway after being away from the court for many months.

With the trophy on the table and no dominant player, should make it for an interesting and lively tournament.

 

[MLRoy]

I more or less agree with this (I do think Pliskova is better than a ball basher but is mentally weak - but most of them are)
Halep, whilst she's been playing well (for her) still uses limited strategy and could actually be the best if she wasn't so afraid of taking advantage of her approach shots and actually approach.
Kerber's 2017 is basically an embarrassment for a no.1, she's more an average top twenty player. Not that says much as the top twenty can seemingly lose or beat anyone in the top fifty.
There are some nice intelligent players out there but I can't think of one that knock the cover off the ball whilst employing strategy and touch. And, mental strength.
I also agree the game needs Sharapova. Venus and Hingis aside, there is no true superstar. And I'm not a fan.
A Davenport or Clijsters (even a Capriati) would clean up now.

Or any top ten player from 1975. How the Hell can Halep be coached by a serve and volleying Aussie for years, and STILL not come to net. She played very well, but I was surprised she made it to the final. Healthy ankles or not, I don't see her ever winning a slam unless she gets over her net aversion. One of the bein commentators, "Sophie" said she thought she should play more doubles to be less tentative approaching the net. From what I remember, she's a pretty good volleyer. But I think the pushing/retrieving game she & Joker play isn't going to cut it, anymore. Exhibit A.: fellow "mean girls", AggieRad, and The Woz. I picked "eLINAsvitoLINA" to beat her.