I am wondering if she has a niggle but didn't want to withdraw without trying, and then realised it's not worth the risk so tanked but I feel maybe moving from Stuttgart conditions to Madrid something is up and it doesn't suit her somehow. At least she has about 10 days to do a training block now and try and turn up in Rome.
This is likely going to be her first full season on tour so she best get used to it, but these will be valuable lessons no doubt.
How about Woz losing to Errani at 17 slots higher?
Although iirc she was never much of a clay court player. I'm just happy she's back and fighting for it!
I think Mirra again showed star player's qualities at the end of that match! And I guess some older and wiser had told her not to scream her lungs empty after every point won and now she only let "rebell yell" at the end of the match!
What little I understand about this sport, I think she is very much on the right track even though some may see that she was just struggling against Townsend.Luydmila, today's heroine!
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I did some quick TC Plus research for you. Pink skirt, pink and black top. Still a little frumpy. Keeping her weight down from last year.
Bill, she can kick your arse, and you will smile.
I like her, but Vekic is hard to root for. So inconsistent. She looked like a world beater yesterday.
Indeed I would. She's quite a colorful character and I like her.Bill, she can kick your arse, and you will smile.
I checked the scores earlier and was baffled she lost the first set to Martens on clay. I know she lost to her on HC recently but with her recent momentum a 2nd loss so soon and on clay wouldn't make sense so I'm glad to see SS won through and continued her winning run. It's good to see she's able to win through in 3, shows how much she wants it. Also, I'm not sure when the cut off for the Olympics is - it's on clay at RG and SS on clay is one of the best Americans. She likely doesn't have long to leapfrog Navarro at #21 in the rankings. Not sure who has what to defend but I expect Gauff, Pegula and Collins are locked in at this stage.
Despite the USO win, I think the French is actually her best Slam, and possibly clay her best surface.
I feel she is playing with house money now.
Physically she looks about as fit as she's ever been. Very strong, pretty trim. I'm hoping for some deep runs!
She really does, I think her long windup for the forehand helps her on slower surfaces. Really hope she keeps her foot on the gas like she has been lately because she's my favorite player on the women's tour bar none.
I guess it's possible to creep up to that ranking with lots of wins over players of equal ability, then get totally exposed when you qualify for a W1000.
She is doing great. But she has to figure out how to get these done in straights.
Insane that her longest win streak is only 8 wins considering she won a slam which is 7 consecutive matches. But I guess we all remember what became of Sloane after she won that US Open. Was it 7 or 8 consecutive losses for Sloane after she won the US Open?
I think Swiatek is right, even if Rybakina has the same number of Slams as Gauff and doesn't have great consistency, similar to Coco. I'd hope Gauff doesn't bother with it at all and lets it slide. Focus on improving and SHOWING Swiatek she's wrong instead of responding verbally (or more likely on social media) to a fairly benign comment.
I just mean by doing better overall - whether it's being more consistent (avoiding bad losses), winning more tournaments, beating top players more regularly, even just competing better with Swiatek even if she loses.
It's easy to see from Iga's perspective why Rybakina > Gauff. Iga is 9-1 vs. Gauff and 2-4 vs. Rybakina so in her head, Rybakina is clearly the bigger challenge to her personally. That and Rybakina has won 84% of her matches this year, the second best winning percentage on the women's tour after Iga's own 85%. Gauff is at 77%. (Sabalenka is 76%.)
