WTA week of 9/25; Tokyo 500 & Ningbo 250

[spystud]

Asian swing, kids.

Tokyo draw

Iga/JPeg/Sakkari/García get byes.

Krueger v. Kalinina is opening match in a little over 2 hours.


Ningbo draw

Ons & Petra lead the way. Boulter & Burrage also playing.

 

[spystud]

Kalinina beat the kid rather quickly.

Kayla Day v. Uchijima now.

 

[spystud]

Bucsa smokes someone named Saigo, 1 & 2. She’s little.

 

[spystud]

Sh*t, I quit watching, it’s Bepa/Boulter in a tight 3rd.

 

[spystud]

Well, well, well, 5-all.

 

[spystud]

Katie saves 2 MPs.

 

[spystud]

For the love of f*ck, get a first serve in.

 

[spystud]

Katie forces a breaker.

 

[spystud]

Bepa wins.

 

[ScottleeSV]

Someone online said Boulter should quit if she can't beat a 47 yr old dinner lady, which I thought was a bit harsh (but also funny).

Qinwen Zheng is playing something called 'The Asian Games', an event so good she won her first match 6-0 6-0.

Fruhvirtova finally gets a win, albeit via retirement. Got to start somewhere!

 

[robyrolfo]

Ningbo draw

Ons & Petra lead the way. Boulter & Burrage also playing.

Surprised to see Jabeur playing in China. I guess everyone just stopped caring? But if anyone was going to make an ideological point, you would think it would be her...

 

[spystud]

Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on Monday pulled out of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, days after slamming the WTA for the introduction of performance byes at the tournament.

Byes are usually awarded to top-seeded players, but performance byes allow for players who have played well in the previous week to move directly into the second round of the next tournament.

Byes for the Pan Pacific Open were given to Maria Sakkari, who won the Guadalajara Open title Saturday, and Caroline Garcia, who reached the semifinals. Both players are ranked lower than Rybakina, who was drawn against Linda Noskova in the first round.

"As a player I want to give my all on the court and at the moment my body is not ready to do that," Rybakina said on Instagram.

"That's why I decided to listen to my body and withdraw from the tournament. I love Japan, my fans here are so unique and for that reason this is a tough decision."

Rybakina said her decision to withdraw from the tournament had nothing to do with her missing out on a bye, adding: "The WTA topic is another topic, on which I have my opinions and will clearly voice them in future."

Noskova gets someone named Sakatsume instead, that’s rather fortunate.

 

[spystud]

Quite the name matchup later today.

 

[spystud]

Kalinskaya takes the opening breaker over Alexandrova.

 

[spystud]

Then a real quick breadstick from EA to force a decider.

 

[spystud]

EA wins with a scoreline special over her doubles partner.

6-7, 6-1, 7-5

 

[spystud]

Pavs v. Donna now.

 

[coolcamden]

EA took it in 3

 

[spystud]

I read that somewhere!

 

[longmacchiato]

Bravo Papamihail.

 

[spystud]

Ha, Kawaguchi was out for whatever reason.

Pavs absolutely destroyed Donna.

Kudermetova beat Dart.

Noskova beat the no-name.

DasKa v. Kostyuk now.

 

[spystud]

DasKa/Marta playing 3 in an absolute break-fest.

 

[spystud]

DasKa won, Marta will just never really be anything.

 

[coolcamden]

I read that somewhere!

Hahahah

 

[robyrolfo]

Just watched a bit of Jabeur v Parry during a work call, because I will always make time for WTA players with a one-handed backhand (and it doesn't hurt that Parry is gorgeous)...

Anyway, Jabeur has truly become painful to watch. This is the first round of a small tournament (for her), against someone she should beat pretty easily, and despite a healthy lead, she is still all over the place mentally. Making strange shot decisions and getting down on herself for it, looking nervous and uncertain during longer rallies, bad body language on changeovers. What gives? If she can't relax and play good tennis in a situation like this, there is no hope for her...

Bravo Papamihail.

She's a she...

DasKa won, Marta will just never really be anything.

Yeah, Kostyuk is really perplexing/frustrating. She seems like she plays really good tennis, but her results just never seem to go beyond a certain point. Getting draws like this one certainly doesn't help, either. (That said, and not that it matters, but she consistently looks amazing, that's for sure)

 

[ScottleeSV]

Well that was a p!ss-poor week from the Brits. Come on Emma, get a move on ffs.

 

[robyrolfo]

Well that was a p!ss-poor week from the Brits. Come on Emma, get a move on ffs.

And it's only Tuesday!

 

[BenC]

Fruhvirtova finally gets a win, albeit via retirement. Got to start somewhere!

Masarova was blasting Fruhvirtova off the court until the medical issues set in, but good to see Fruhvirtova hang in there until her fortunes changed.

Quite the name matchup later today.

Papamichail played Hosogi instead of Kawaguchi (injury?). Hosogi has 2-handed groundstrokes on both sides and her DTL FH in particular kept her in the match.

Also a mention for Misaki Doi in her final tournament who played well to beat an seemingly off-form Petra Martic who hadn't played since the USO. Doi is the only player I know of with the Dunlop CX200 and New Balance gear so that's where my rooting interests lie despite her lack of success recently.

 

[spystud]

1 & 2 for JPeg in an hour over Bucsa.

Yulia gave Petra a walkover in Ningbo.

 

[spystud]

Alexandrova easy over Samsonova.

 

[spystud]

Kudermetova easy over Day.

Fruhvirtova v. Blinkova from Ningbo on now.

 

[ScottleeSV]

Swiatek down 1-4 to Hontama.

She might still get away with it today but I don't like this ultra aggressive style from Swiatek like she's trying to swarm her opponents like a pack of angry bees. It just leads to so many errors. She's so much better when she's a bit more patient and then picks the right shot to attack.

 

[coolcamden]

Swiatek down 1-4 to Hontama.

She might still get away with it today but I don't like this ultra aggressive style from Swiatek like she's trying to swarm her opponents like a pack of angry bees. It just leads to so many errors. She's so much better when she's a bit more patient and then picks the right shot to attack.

Thanks for filling us in. Didn’t get to watch it, but yeah…. Sounds like she may be taking it too far. She posted in her insta that she has ‘new ways’ of play from her most recent off time. Will be interesting to see.

 

[ScottleeSV]

Thanks for filling us in. Didn’t get to watch it, but yeah…. Sounds like she may be taking it too far. She posted in her insta that she has ‘new ways’ of play from her most recent off time. Will be interesting to see.

After I posted she dialled it back a bit. Possibly she started the match hoping to blow Hontama away quickly safe in the knowledge she had a back-up plan. Okay fine.

In general though, throughout the course of this year, she's pushing up the attacking shot ratio and not always successfully.

 

[robyrolfo]

After I posted she dialled it back a bit. Possibly she started the match hoping to blow Hontama away quickly safe in the knowledge she had a back-up plan. Okay fine.

In general though, throughout the course of this year, she's pushing up the attacking shot ratio and not always successfully.

When Swiatek first "burst" onto the scene, with that French Open win in the fall, she was really fun to watch (despite her being dressed like a nun). Her tennis was different and fun, and she seemed pretty calm and even keeled mentally.

Now, though, I really don't enjoy her matches that much. Even when she is playing well and dominating her opponent, it just feels like there is something off about her, mostly between the ears. It's like she is trying to do things that she can sometimes pull off (against weak opponents), but which really aren't the best approach to long term and consistent success. It can be effective tennis at times (against, against weaker players especially), but it doesn't seem like particularly good or smart tennis. It's hard to explain, but I'm not drawn to her matches the way I am with some other players (like Muchova, for example).

 

[coolcamden]

When Swiatek first "burst" onto the scene, with that French Open win in the fall, she was really fun to watch (despite her being dressed like a nun). Her tennis was different and fun, and she seemed pretty calm and even keeled mentally.

Now, though, I really don't enjoy her matches that much. Even when she is playing well and dominating her opponent, it just feels like there is something off about her, mostly between the ears. It's like she is trying to do things that she can sometimes pull off (against weak opponents), but which really aren't the best approach to long term and consistent success. It can be effective tennis at times (against, against weaker players especially), but it doesn't seem like particularly good or smart tennis. It's hard to explain, but I'm not drawn to her matches the way I am with some other players (like Muchova, for example).

It’s no secret that she’s a great talent. Her movements are exceptional. She has a tremendous Game with that loopy FH, court coverage, ability to go defense to offense instantly…. But yeah, her quirks are getting worse. Answering a call mid game, taking a book to the toilet, changing rackets mid game… on top of other well documented cringy antics. Then all the cold handshakes, don’t give the opponents much credit when she lost, etc… I am almost rooting against her most of the times.

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Kudermetova has been absolutely hopeless of late. Has Iga next, should be a Swiatek thrashing but let's see.

Veronika seriously has just dropped off.

Thrashed by Vika last week 3R
1R loss to #93 Kenin in San Diego
1R loss at the USO to #73 Pera
Smoked 2R in Cleveland by #95 SST
Embarrassing 2R match loss to #533 Venus in Cincy (had a 1R bye)
2R loss at Wimbledon to Vondrousova

Since her big win over #2 Sabalenka in Berlin and until this week she'd won just 3 matches and lost 6.

 

[robyrolfo]

It’s no secret that she’s a great talent. Her movements are exceptional. She has a tremendous Game with that loopy FH, court coverage, ability to go defense to offense instantly…. But yeah, her quirks are getting worse. Answering a call mid game, taking a book to the toilet, changing rackets mid game… on top of other well documented cringy antics. Then all the cold handshakes, don’t give the opponents much credit when she lost, etc… I am almost rooting against her most of the times.

I agree with all of that. I could see Iga either taking a long break (like a year off) in the next few years, or retiring yearly (in her late 20's).

 

[spystud]

Pavs took the first over Noskova.

 

[spystud]

Youngster forced 3.

 

[spystud]

Pavs finishes with a bagel.

 

[spystud]

DasKa beats Papamichail in straights.

It’s funny how dead the Asian swing is. Players/fans/announcers/us, no one really cares.

 

[longmacchiato]

It could have been a lot worse for P/mihail. She must have given it a good shot.

 

[spystud]

Garcia over Kalinina in straights.

AK was sweaty.

 

[ScottleeSV]

Watching Fruhvirtova trying to close out her quarter final. The arena at Ningbo is really good.

 

[spystud]

And on the flip side, the all-blue everything in Tokyo is most certainly not.

 

[spystud]

AK was sweaty.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1707318709444903087

Right after the handshake, looks like she just jumped in a pool.

 

[spystud]

Sakkari easy over Doi to end Tokyo’s slate & Misaki’s career.

Nice hug & chat at the net.

 

[spystud]

Ons breaks for the first over Bepa.

I’m out.

 

[D-Lite]

Tokyo more stacked than Guadalajara. Garcia will be pumped to try and avenge her loss to Sakkari from last week. With Pegula and Swiatek possibly looking it will be tough for her to win the title here but I'd love it. I feel that even though Sakkari finally won her 2nd title she still needs to win another in the next few months to prove she's finally got the monkey off her back. I wouldn't be mad if she replicated FAA's run of indoor titles from last year I think it was.