Simona Halep v Eugenie Bouchard - Wimbledon 2014 SF

Who will take this great Wimbledon SF?


  • Total voters
    65

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
It was the elderly lady in the audience who needed medical attention mid tie break in set 1 who created a momentum shift and from that point on the match became hers. Great match from an amazing tennis player.
 

Artanis

Semi-Pro
Her plan of playing ON GRASS only from baseline, no slice, no volleys, no dropshots, failed miserably against someone who did the same, only better.
I hope you've seen the match and not just talking: 2:1 with break Halep, twisted ankle. From there, she fought the best she could...
 
What is the controversy? She raised her hand to stop the server. If anything Halep was the bad sport for serving anyway.

Actually the returner is supposed to go at the server's pace. The server is the one in the driver's seat. I think Eugenie was just nervous in the end!
 

cc0509

Talk Tennis Guru
Great victory for Bouchard -- and earned the old way.

Halep never really recovered from losing the first set.

Her plan of playing ON GRASS only from baseline, no slice, no volleys, no dropshots, failed miserably against someone who did the same, only better.

Another coach is required to bring her closer to Henin, not to Clijsters, which I see here.

As to Bouchard -- good luck in the final!!

Halep is no Henin or Clijsters! Don't be ridiculous!
 
Great victory for Bouchard -- and earned the old way.

Halep never really recovered from losing the first set.

Her plan of playing ON GRASS only from baseline, no slice, no volleys, no dropshots, failed miserably against someone who did the same, only better.

Another coach is required to bring her closer to Henin, not to Clijsters, which I see here.

As to Bouchard -- good luck in the final!!

Exactly the media go on and on about Halep she did not try anything different she was not aggressive after losing the first set.
 

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
Chris Evert must own stock in Bouchard. She's been gushing over her non-stop for the last hour. What happened to neutrality.

Chris Evert has never been neutral. The same way JMac is not neutral. Evert is a Federer fangirl and JMac is a Nadal fanboy for example.
 

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
I hope you've seen the match and not just talking: 2:1 with break Halep, twisted ankle. From there, she fought the best she could...

Halep played fine. She recovered from the injury. Bouchard just attacked on grass, and Halep tried to defend. Naturally the attacker won on grass.
 

Artanis

Semi-Pro
She was moving sub-standard on the left side (with the injured foot). Her main weapon, the backhand was suffering from that. It was obvious.
I don't say she would've won without an injury, but her movement and backhand were affected.
 

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
Actually, it was more obvious at the end of the match, but this is unimportant now...

How so? That wasn't Halep being injured IMO. That was more the deflation of losing the first set. If Halep could've won the first set we're probably not here talking about her injury.
 

Artanis

Semi-Pro
I watch Halep's game closely from a year now, and I tell you she was affected by that injury mainly on the backhand side, were she is the best. Even the tournament site acknowledges that.
But as a Bouchard fan, I would raise some questions about loosing so many match-points in front of one-legged player :)
 

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
I watch Halep's game closely from a year now, and I tell you she was affected by that injury mainly on the backhand side, were she is the best. Even the tournament site acknowledges that.

"for a year" -- not "from a year" :)

No plan B for Halep either. She didn't change anything, not even when shorter rallies would have been to her benefit.

I am not saying she wasn't injured, or that she wasn't affected. She might have been in heavy pain. But she ran quite a lot after the injury. But NOT WITH A GOOD PLAN. She just stayed in FH-to-FH rallies, which she was losing. No dropshots, no slice. She didn't try to take Bouchard off her plan. I am not saying the final result would have been different in her condition, but would have been a better try....

She's young. She must continue to learn. Her arsenal is not enough for someone with her talents and hands. She will wear herself ragged by staying just at the baseline.

The same is valid for Bouchard too, BTW. Their careers would be more successful in the long term with a more varied game.
 
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Artanis

Semi-Pro
A slight typo is acceptable from a non-native :)

I think you have a point, just exaggerating with that "failed miserably"...actually, I think she fought till the end.
 

Hollywood401k

Semi-Pro
I never watch WTA cause I seem to always catch a screamer when I try. For some reason I took the risk and watched the replay of this match. High quality stuff (for the first set in particular), Bouchard's like a little Agassi and Halep's technique and movement were fantastic.

Sad to see the injury, but Halep had a great attitude about the whole thing (another reason I don't usually watch the WTA... a lot of poor behavior).
 

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
That pretty dramatic interruption in the middle of the TB for assisting the spectator came at a moment of temporary ascendency for Halep, at 3-2 for her, up a minibreak, with her to serve. At resumption, it seemed to me at the time Bouchard overcame the event better.

The set (and perhaps the match) might have been in balance right there.

Also, just after the resumption of play, as the W site says:

---
And a little bit of luck: which is what everyone is grateful for. With Halep labouring because of injury, the Romanian still led 4-2 in the first set tie-break and it would have been 5-2 had Bouchard not benefitted from the luckiest of net cords.
---

For more on those moments at tennis.com:
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Wimbledon: Bouchard d. Halep
Richard Pagliaro

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/07/wimbledon-bouchard-d-halep/51996/#.U7WaRXb7ET0
---
 
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Graf=GOAT

Professional
Halep is a good player, but I don't feel grass is where she'll win her first.

French and AO will be hers in the next few years, I feel.
 

Kalin

Legend
Tennis, even at this level or maybe especially so at this level, is a game of inches. If, as Marius says, Bouchard's netcord falls on her own side for 2-5 now we'd be discussing how Halep overcame her injury to win in straight sets.
 

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
The day after the match.

Virginia Ruzici, Simona Halep's manager, and a former Roland Garros champion, says in an interview in the Romanian press:
---
There were two key moments in the match.

First, the ankle injury. At the time, it wasn't too painful, but later, while playing, it started to count for a lot. Anyway, the ankle started to swell. She [Halep] had a great desire to continue. In fact, I'd say she felt it impossible to withdraw in such a match, in a GS semifinal.

[Then the second key moment was the interruption during the TB]
Indeed, this interruption, which was quite long, was very important. It took her out of her rhythm, then she gave up -- too disappointed with everything that had happened.

There were some factors playing against her, but let us not forget the opponent, who was extremely tough. It seems to me she [Bouchard] had a very good ratio offense-defense, she played very well.

http://www.ziare.com/simona-halep/s...ei-halep-iata-cele-doua-momente-cheie-1309247
---
 

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
Bouchard has already won Wimbledon twice, junior singles and junior doubles, so she's used to winning finals here.


Go Genie. Give Stephen H another chsnce to congratulate you.

PS Stephen H is not a poster on this forum, maybe on some hockey forum.
 

pound cat

G.O.A.T.
The day after the match.

Virginia Ruzici, Simona Halep's manager, and a former Roland Garros champion, says in an interview in the Romanian press:
---
There were two key moments in the match.

First, the ankle injury. At the time, it wasn't too painful, but later, while playing, it started to count for a lot. Anyway, the ankle started to swell. She [Halep] had a great desire to continue. In fact, I'd say she felt it impossible to withdraw in such a match, in a GS semifinal.

[Then the second key moment was the interruption during the TB]
Indeed, this interruption, which was quite long, was very important. It took her out of her rhythm, then she gave up -- too disappointed with everything that had happened. Her injury was unfortunate.

There were some factors playing against her, but let us not forget the opponent, who was extremely tough. It seems to me she [Bouchard] had a very good ratio offense-defense, she played very well.

http://www.ziare.com/simona-halep/s...ei-halep-iata-cele-doua-momente-cheie-1309247
---

Even though Halep was injured she could still play, and in tennis you keep on playing because as J McEnroe said you just never know what might happen to your opponent.
 
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