WTA 250 Merida 2/20 - 2/26 2023

[Ainsley]

Did anyone watch this match?! I mean...what?!

I did watch it. Sloane did not really play an awful match. Camila played a pretty flawless match. Sloane 93% first serve %. Camila 76% first serve %. Now here is the kicker. Sloane 38% win % on 1st serve. Sloane 0% win % on 2nd serve. Camila 86% win % 1st serve. Camila 100% win % 2nd serve.

[dryrunguy]

In 46 minutes? Was there an injury?

Without question. Sloane was clearly suffering from a brutal case of the Camila Giorgis.

[Deuce]

The ironic thing is that with the incredible inconsistency and questionable intensity/commitment of these two particular players, the outcome could have just as easily been the exact reverse of what it was, with Sloane winning love and love...

[Ainsley]

One thing that surprised me is that a Sloan racquet didn't take a beating during this drubbing.

[Suliso]

How does one go from a GS champion and a steady top 10 player to this before even turning 30? I don't get it...

[ashkor87]

well, Sloane's serve is nothing great, and Giorgi's is, I suppose - but amazing nonetheless. Looks like this bagel baking is a global phenomenon.. I did see some highlights of a previous match, the court looks much slower than Dubai, which can explain some lopsided scores but then look at Iga in Dubai !

[ashkor87]

Perhaps Linette is a favorite here. She's in the top 10 in this year's points.

well, the rankings arent predictive - we just saw that!

[ashkor87]

Peterson is exactly the kind of solid pro Parks will have to learn to deal with as she grows...this time, she couldn't..

That was the reason I felt that your claim that she would be a Wimby champion one day was a bit premature.
As you say, a solid veteran played what seems to be a routine match (the stats appear that way) and Parks was unable to gain traction. She had a very good week, beating some solid competition (her previous win), and this time, was taken to three sets by a player outside of the 150, and was beaten with relative ease by a 27 yo ranked 140.
The fluctuations are large. And that is what the real good players control best. The level is high, but it does not drop below a certain level.
Let's hope she manages this better in the upcoming tournaments.

of course, I take your point. But I never said she is going to win W this year! I mean some day, she has the game, if it develops the way it should. More upside than ... ok, I wont say it.

[Ainsley]

Peterson is exactly the kind of solid pro Parks will have to learn to deal with as she grows...this time, she couldn't..

Parks has a lot more than just Peterson to figure out and deal with. She cannot just rely on her serve and think that is what will get her through a match or even tournaments. She needs to take the ball much earlier on her ground strokes. There were many times and especially on her backhand that she hit the ball late resulting in an unforced error. The unforced errors will continue to mount up if she does not correct her preparation into her ground strokes. I don't know if it a mechanics thing she has to work on or if it is a problem in her foot work.

[ashkor87]

i hadnt observed that.. good to hear from someone who is actually watching the matches

[ponchi101]

Peterson is exactly the kind of solid pro Parks will have to learn to deal with as she grows...this time, she couldn't..

Parks has a lot more than just Peterson to figure out and deal with. She cannot just rely on her serve and think that is what will get her through a match or even tournaments. She needs to take the ball much earlier on her ground strokes. There were many times and especially on her backhand that she hit the ball late resulting in an unforced error. The unforced errors will continue to mount up if she does not correct her preparation into her ground strokes. I don't know if it a mechanics thing she has to work on or if it is a problem in her foot work.

What if that is not her style?
During the 90's and with the surge of players like Agassi and Bjorkman (on the serve), that became a mantra. "Take the ball early and on the rise". Seles was the WTA version.
But lately we have seen that that approach is not for everybody. Rafa has been successful taking the ball late and when coming down: his return position is that extreme to give him time. Medvedev has done it too, and there are other players doing it.
Taking the ball early is not as important as taking the ball at your most comfortable point of contact. Edberg could have never taken the ball on the rise; not with that bloody continental grip on his FH. He needed the ball below his shoulder and, again because the grip, he had no issues with very low balls. Agassi was the opposite: low to his FH was a solid play.
I have not seen Parks play. But we are doing the same thing as many people. The week she won the tournament, she was the greatest. She lost now to Peterson? Her whole game has to be revamped.
We need to give people the understanding that in evert match, there will be a loser. And that person simply just had a bad day. Nothing more.

[Ainsley]

i hadnt observed that.. good to hear from someone who is actually watching the matches

I haven't watched a lot of Alycia Parks matches, but from what I have seen I have not been too impressed. She does have an impressive serve that is for damn sure. Other than that she has much work to do in her game. Her forehand is average at best and the backhand is not even that in my opinion. The amount of unforced errors she hits is out of this world and this is going up against the likes of Contreras Gomez and Rebecca Peterson. When she takes the court against Iga or Sabalenka or even Jess Pegula she is going to be destroyed.

Her body language and attitude also in my opinion needs a major adjustment. As I stated in the Merida thread when she played Contreras Gomez she had some sort of chip on her shoulder and was exhibiting just an awful on court attitude.

[Ainsley]

Peterson is exactly the kind of solid pro Parks will have to learn to deal with as she grows...this time, she couldn't..

Parks has a lot more than just Peterson to figure out and deal with. She cannot just rely on her serve and think that is what will get her through a match or even tournaments. She needs to take the ball much earlier on her ground strokes. There were many times and especially on her backhand that she hit the ball late resulting in an unforced error. The unforced errors will continue to mount up if she does not correct her preparation into her ground strokes. I don't know if it a mechanics thing she has to work on or if it is a problem in her foot work.

What if that is not her style?
During the 90's and with the surge of players like Agassi and Bjorkman (on the serve), that became a mantra. "Take the ball early and on the rise". Seles was the WTA version.
But lately we have seen that that approach is not for everybody. Rafa has been successful taking the ball late and when coming down: his return position is that extreme to give him time. Medvedev has done it too, and there are other players doing it.
Taking the ball early is not as important as taking the ball at your most comfortable point of contact. Edberg could have never taken the ball on the rise; not with that bloody continental grip on his FH. He needed the ball below his shoulder and, again because the grip, he had no issues with very low balls. Agassi was the opposite: low to his FH was a solid play.
I have not seen Parks play. But we are doing the same thing as many people. The week she won the tournament, she was the greatest. She lost now to Peterson? Her whole game has to be revamped.
We need to give people the understanding that in evert match, there will be a loser. And that person simply just had a bad day. Nothing more.

It could certainly not be her style of play, but the amount of unforced errors she hits from her backhand and forehand is out of this world and much is because of what I see taking the ball late. This could have nothing to do with her mechanics at all and all to do with her footwork. She is quite the tall girl and I really didn't get much of a feelof how she moves around on the court. I just noticed and especially with her backhand she was hitting late quite often which caused many unforced errors.

The match that I really watched with Parks against Contreras Gomez she actually won while still hitting a lot of unforced errors. I didn't get to see the match she lost to Rebecca Peterson although I did see the stats that she made a ton of unforced errors.

[ti-amie]

Day 8 Order of Play

Estadio Akron
Starts at 07:00 PM

Semifinal
SWE R. PETERSON vs USA C. MCNALLY
FOLLOWED BY
Semifinal
[4] Katerina SINIAKOVA CZE vs ITA C. GIORGI

[Ainsley]

Day 8 Order of Play

Estadio Akron
Starts at 07:00 PM

Semifinal
SWE R. PETERSON vs USA C. MCNALLY
FOLLOWED BY
Semifinal
[4] Katerina SINIAKOVA CZE vs ITA C. GIORGI

Easily tonight, the Siniakova and Giorgi match could be a final with the way these two are playing.