WTA 500 Doha 2/13 - 2/18 2023

[Deuce]

Nathalie Tauziat can't be put in the same class as Chris Lewis and Martin Verkerk.
Tauziat was a top 20 player for 14 consecutive years. Not too many players throughout history can match that.

Maybe she reached only one Major Final (many very good players never reach a Major Final), but I'd say that she was definitely good enough to maintain a high level of play. And that, for a long time.

She works with Tennis Canada now, by the way, helping the Junior girls and the young women on the tour. I see her at tournaments often.

[JazzNU]

But that is not the path for players that eventually become consistent winners. This is the path of a Chris Lewis, Nathalie Tauziat or Martin Verkerk. Players that reached a slam final, and then simply was proven they were not good enough to maintain such a level.

His matches on the outer courts were electric with those crowds and they kept coming back when he got moved up to the better courts. That whatever channel was doing coverage at the time was showing should tell you how great the energy of his matches were, because no way would that typically get any actual TV time. Easily among a top 10 times I've been most entertained watching a tennis match.

[ti-amie]

I'm betting you watched when USA Network broadcast the US Open. They did some of the best ever TV coverage surpassing what we're getting now.

[JazzNU]

I'm betting you watched when USA Network broadcast the US Open. They did some of the best ever TV coverage surpassing what we're getting now.

Oh yeah, and I miss it. So, so much.

[ti-amie]

Day 4 Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 02:00 PM

CZE P. KVITOVA vs CHN S. ZHANG
FOLLOWED BY
USA M. KEYS vs LAT J. OSTAPENKO
FOLLOWED BY
BUL V. TOMOVA vs SUI B. BENCIC (7)
FOLLOWED BY
GRE M. SAKKARI (5) vs CHN Q. ZHENG
NOT BEFORE 8:00 PM
RUS D. KASATKINA (6) vs CAN R. MARINO

Grandstand 1
Starts at 02:00 PM

BEL E. MERTENS vs USA D. COLLINS
FOLLOWED BY
USA S. KENIN vs RUS L. SAMSONOVA
FOLLOWED BY
ESP P. BADOSA vs BRA B. HADDAD MAIA
FOLLOWED BY
RUS E. ALEXANDROVA vs CZE K. PLISKOVA

Grandstand 2
Starts at 02:00 PM

TPE H. CHAN/TPE L. CHAN vs USA N. MELICHAR-MARTINEZ/AUS E. PEREZ
FOLLOWED BY
BEL K. FLIPKENS/GER L. SIEGEMUND vs JPN S. AOYAMA/JPN M. NINOMIYA
FOLLOWED BY
BLR V. AZARENKA/BEL E. MERTENS vs USA D. KRAWCZYK/NED D. SCHUURS (3)
FOLLOWED BY
MEX G. OLMOS/CHN S. ZHANG (4) vs KAZ A. DANILINA/BRA L. STEFANI

[skatingfan]

I think it's good for Leylah to play qualies at these tournaments - and I'd even say that it's good for her to lose in qualies or in the 1st round. She got somewhat too full of herself after playing the 2021 U.S. Open Final - all the attention and endorsements - not to mention the access to main draws, the appearance fees, the free hotels, etc. - went to her head. No more than with most people, but I was still disappointed that she became more of a 'celebrity' than a tennis player.

Well she had a very good result at one of the biggest tournaments in the sport so that was going to come with more demands on her time from media, sponsors, and fans, and learning to manage that attention is part of being a high level athlete. Particularly in a sport like tennis where the tour is like a travelling circus that arrives in town once a year the demands on player time will be large. She also dealt with a significant injury last year that lost her some practice time, and match play in the middle of the year so that's not ideal. She can't play tennis all the time, and she can't play forever so might as well take advantage of the opportunities that her success presents.

[Deuce]

I think it's good for Leylah to play qualies at these tournaments - and I'd even say that it's good for her to lose in qualies or in the 1st round. She got somewhat too full of herself after playing the 2021 U.S. Open Final - all the attention and endorsements - not to mention the access to main draws, the appearance fees, the free hotels, etc. - went to her head. No more than with most people, but I was still disappointed that she became more of a 'celebrity' than a tennis player.

Well she had a very good result at one of the biggest tournaments in the sport so that was going to come with more demands on her time from media, sponsors, and fans, and learning to manage that attention is part of being a high level athlete. Particularly in a sport like tennis where the tour is like a travelling circus that arrives in town once a year the demands on player time will be large. She also dealt with a significant injury last year that lost her some practice time, and match play in the middle of the year so that's not ideal. She can't play tennis all the time, and she can't play forever so might as well take advantage of the opportunities that her success presents.

When Leylah was 15 years old - before anyone knew of her -, I said to her father "Please be careful to ensure that she doesn't go the Genie Bouchard route".
He replied "Don't worry - we've already had that discussion. I told her that it's up to her to decide - if she wants to show her ass off to everyone, then she can work on having a nice ass. But if she wants to have success in tennis, she needs to work on her tennis. She chose tennis."

After she beat Bencic in Fed Cup in 2020 (still before most people knew of her), her dad told me that she got 'kind of a big head about it' (which is fairly normal for a youngster), and her tennis suffered as a result.
Leylah has an exceptional degree of drive and determination on a tennis court. The only other player I've seen in 40 years of following tennis who has that degree of drive and determination is a guy named Nadal.
Leylah is an extremely fierce competitor - and comes by it very naturally. And, being young still, that determination can be distracted by 'fame' and attention. It's a very delicate balance for everyone - but especially so for someone like Leylah, who is so focussed on the court, and who is naturally more of an introvert off of it.
She needs to remember who she is, and ignore who people want her to be (the latter of which is what 'fame' tries to do to people).

She had a year and a half of enjoying the 'celebrity status' and countless perks that was all a predictable by-product of the 2021 U.S. Open Final.
Now, I hope that having to play qualies now - and sometimes losing in qualies - makes her realize that she's a tennis player first and foremost, and that the endorsements, the galas, and the TV commercials, etc. don't win matches for her (I'd say that they actually do more to help her lose her focus on tennis, and therefore, to lose matches) - and that 'fame' is trivial and superficial - fame only 'loves' you if you win, and it's not YOU that they love, they just want to be associated to someone who wins... 'fame' grabs you and tries to force you to be who it wants you to be - there's no substance to it, and if 'being famous' is the main motivation to win, it will be very fleeting, at best.

I hope playing these qualifying matches, often in front of only a handful of people, makes her remember her roots, and stirs the hunger in her again - the hunger to win and to do her best on the tennis court, not the hunger to be a 'celebrity'.

[Deuce]

Qinwen and Sakkari just split the first 2 sets...
Haddad Maia won the 1st set tiebreak over Badosa, who apparently hasn't retired from the match yet - they're on serve in the 2nd.

Ostapenko beat Keys in 2 sets...
And - surprise - Kenin beat Samsonova easily (3 and 1). Samsonova must be tired after reaching the Final last week in Abu Dhabi - and it was a rather gruelling Final (though Bencic won her match easily today over qualifier Tomova)...

Here's one from Qinwen - rarely seen in the women's game, but this one is very nicely executed...

Nice Shot...

.

[Deuce]

Kasatkina gets by Marino in a tough 2 sets - the first in a tiebreak.
The first service hold of the match was Marino in the 5th game.
The 1st set was as even as it could be.
Kasatkina finally found her game in the 2nd set - but it was still closer than the score indicates. They were on serve at 3-2 Kasatkina.

I still say that there is something not right with Kasatkina this year. She mentions nothing about it in her interviews, but on court, she looks significantly more lacklustre than she normally does. Today, she looked exhausted by the 4th game of the match. If it's not some kind of psychological issue (like a relationship breakup, or worrying about her family in Russia), then maybe it's something physical that's zapping her energy, like mono or something... But she definitely hasn't been her usual self so far this year.

[ti-amie]

Day 5 Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 03:30 PM

USA C. GAUFF (4) vs CZE P. KVITOVA
FOLLOWED BY
LAT J. OSTAPENKO vs USA J. PEGULA (2)
FOLLOWED BY
POL I. SWIATEK (1) vs USA D. COLLINS
NOT BEFORE 8:00 PM
CZE K. MUCHOVA vs FRA C. GARCIA (3)

Grandstand 1
Starts at 03:30 PM

BLR V. AZARENKA vs SUI B. BENCIC (7)
FOLLOWED BY
RUS D. KASATKINA (6) vs BRA B. HADDAD MAIA
FOLLOWED BY
MEX G. OLMOS/CHN S. ZHANG (4) vs JPN S. AOYAMA/JPN M. NINOMIYA
FOLLOWED BY
USA C. GAUFF/USA J. PEGULA (1) vs POL A. ROSOLSKA/NZL E. ROUTLIFFE

Grandstand 2
Starts at 03:30 PM

USA S. KENIN vs RUS V. KUDERMETOVA (8)
FOLLOWED BY
GRE M. SAKKARI (5) vs RUS E. ALEXANDROVA
FOLLOWED BY
CHN Z. YANG/RUS V. ZVONAREVA vs RUS E. ALEXANDROVA/BLR A. SASNOVICH
FOLLOWED BY
TPE H. CHAN/TPE L. CHAN vs UKR L. KICHENOK/LAT J. OSTAPENKO (2)

[JazzNU]

I haven't been able to catch a match this week yet. Not sure if I'm just checking on it too late or it's about TC opting to show ATP instead. I think it must be the latter for when I've checked, I don't think 9 AM - 10 AM is too late to see some of the matches, so might need to stream this week instead.

If anyone actually watched Kenin's match, please report back because that is an absolutely stunning win for her. Did she look like her old self or was Samsonova way off today?

Excellent wins for Sakkari, Haddad Maia, and Alexandrova today as well.

[martini4me]

Qinwen and Sakkari just split the first 2 sets...
Haddad Maia won the 1st set tiebreak over Badosa, who apparently hasn't retired from the match yet - they're on serve in the 2nd.

Ostapenko beat Keys in 2 sets...
And - surprise - Kenin beat Samsonova easily (3 and 1). Samsonova must be tired after reaching the Final last week in Abu Dhabi - and it was a rather gruelling Final (though Bencic won her match easily today over qualifier Tomova)...

Here's one from Qinwen - rarely seen in the women's game, but this one is very nicely executed...

Nice Shot...

.

Another one? I think she hit one last week (that was featured in the highlights) as well.

[JazzNU]

Here it is for easy viewing. WTA posted it, but ESPN picked it up and posted it too! Not very common for them in non-grand slams.

[Suliso]

Belinda wins another tough come from behind match. Her first win vs Azarenka actually.

Interested to see how she does vs Swiatek on this kind of court.

[Deuce]

Very nice comeback win for Bencic over Azarenka... After losing the 1st set 1-6, Bencic fought back to win the 2nd set tiebreak, and then get the break she needed to win the 3rd 6-4.
Azarenka won 9 more points than Bencic overall today - but that's a statistic that is irrelevant in deciding the final outcome in this sport, of course.

It was a long, tough match, and the fact that she won is particularly impressive given that she played a full week last week, winning the Abu Dhabi tournament (which included a long, hard fought, gruelling Final over Samsonova).

In other matches, Gauff over Kvitova in straight sets...
Kudermetova over Kenin, also in straight sets...
Pegula and Ostapenko split 6-2 sets, with Ostapenko getting one early break in the 3rd to go up 3-0.

Kasatkina vs. Haddad Maia up next. This should be interesting, given Kasatkina's poor form so far this year.