WTA 1000 ATP 1000 Miami 3/21 - 4/2 2023

[JazzNU]

Re Alexandrova and the question of why I like her, people here should explain why they like Pegula so much..Alexandrova has already won more tournaments,.

Tournaments titles don't necessarily tell the whole story of any player. I'm not some big fan of Jessie's and that is mostly due to not caring for her parents and how they've sportwashed their real business that earned them billions, but she's a different level of player than Alexandrova right now. I'm not sure Alexandrova has even made the second week of a Grand Slam yet and she's far from a new player on tour. She might improve, but hanging your hat on, well, she has more titles, isn't it. She's not on Pegula's level and she's in her late 20s, so this may be the best she ever gets. Doesn't mean she hasn't had a respectable career, she has. And certainly doesn't mean you shouldn't be a fan of hers. But you can't be surprised that people have more faith in Jessie than Ekaterina.

[ponchi101]

Re Alexandrova and the question of why I like her, people here should explain why they like Pegula so much..Alexandrova has already won more tournaments,.

Nobody has to explain why you like a player (or not). That is a personal metric.
But ignoring numbers and records is a different issue. There is no question that Alexandrova has more titles (3-1). But Pegula has held a consistent higher ranking. So saying who is better should boil down to measuring those numbers. And all the others.

[ashkor87]

Madison Keys has surfaced! She should actually do well on this kind of surface...assuming she is well.. I never believed the theory that she is a potential Wimbledon champion (see Davenport on her)..always thought she would do better even at the French than at Wimbledon..which, I think, she has. She has enormous power, reminds me of a nuclear power plant, but her footwork and movement would let her down on a fast court..

[ashkor87]

Re Alexandrova and the question of why I like her, people here should explain why they like Pegula so much..Alexandrova has already won more tournaments,.

Tournaments titles don't necessarily tell the whole story of any player. I'm not some big fan of Jessie's and that is mostly due to not caring for her parents and how they've sportwashed their real business that earned them billions, but she's a different level of player than Alexandrova right now. I'm not sure Alexandrova has even made the second week of a Grand Slam yet and she's far from a new player on tour. She might improve, but hanging your hat on, well, she has more titles, isn't it. She's not on Pegula's level and she's in her late 20s, so this may be the best she ever gets. Doesn't mean she hasn't had a respectable career, she has. And certainly doesn't mean you shouldn't be a fan of hers. But you can't be surprised that people have more faith in Jessie than Ekaterina.

And how old is Pegula, please? I like Alexandrova because she has tremendous power, which is useful on the kind of slow courts we are seeing more and more of...I still maintain a 'buy' on her..

[ashkor87]

saw a bit of the Rybakina match on youtube - she seemed a bit late to the ball sometimes, as if she hasnt adjusted to the courts (they are a bit faster than IW, it seems, this year) - not altogether convicing as a performance but maybe she just needs this practice to get adjusted.. we shall see..

[nelslus]

saw a bit of the Rybakina match on youtube - she seemed a bit late to the ball sometimes, as if she hasnt adjusted to the courts (they are a bit faster than IW, it seems, this year) - not altogether convicing as a performance but maybe she just needs this practice to get adjusted.. we shall see..

During the match, Davenport and the other commentator talked about that Rybakina may have some shoulder issues. Her shoulders were apparently taped up during IW, and she was stretching her shoulders at times today. Rybakina should have won this in two- up a set and a break- and then her game started going wonky- especially her serve and forehand. She actually could have lost in 3- until she played much better tennis the last few games of the third set, and her serve started working again.

Would not be at all surprised if Rybakina drops out with whatever is the latest Injury/Illness fad.

[3mlm]

Re Alexandrova and the question of why I like her, people here should explain why they like Pegula so much..Alexandrova has already won more tournaments,.

Nobody has to explain why you like a player (or not). That is a personal metric.
But ignoring numbers and records is a different issue. There is no question that Alexandrova has more titles (3-1). But Pegula has held a consistent higher ranking. So saying who is better should boil down to measuring those numbers. And all the others.

Pegula actually has two titles: Washington DC 2019 and Guadalajara 2022. She's 8 months older than Alexandrova and won the only WTA match they've
played - Rome 2021 R16.

[nelslus]

And how old is Pegula, please? I like Alexandrova because she has tremendous power, which is useful on the kind of slow courts we are seeing more and more of...I still maintain a 'buy' on her.

Pegula is 29- and Alexandrova is 28. Alexandrova has never gone past the 3R in singles at a Slam, IW, and/or Miami, and she's been pretty crappy in singles for a few months. And- sure, Alexandrova can have "tremendous" power, hitting the ball tremendously out.

I mean, in the wacky world of tennis- sure, anything can happen. But, it feels awfully random and (....yet again....) arbitrary to suddenly become an Alexandrova zealot vs. a player ranked much higher, and with decidedly more consistent results. (AND, Collins could take out Pegula, and Taylor could take out Alexandrova. So, there's that).

I mean, heck, I'm always wishing for Petra (who's, I don't know, 134 years old or whatever at this point ) to win at least one more Slam title. And, that ain't gonna happen, either, no matter how I could frame that.

[nelslus]

Re Alexandrova and the question of why I like her, people here should explain why they like Pegula so much..Alexandrova has already won more tournaments,.

Nobody has to explain why you like a player (or not). That is a personal metric.
But ignoring numbers and records is a different issue. There is no question that Alexandrova has more titles (3-1). But Pegula has held a consistent higher ranking. So saying who is better should boil down to measuring those numbers. And all the others.

Pegula actually has two titles: Washington DC 2019 and Guadalajara 2022. She's 8 months older than Alexandrova and won the only WTA match they've
played - Rome 2021 R16.

Damn it. Jazz and you beat me to the "They're almost the same freakin' age" argument.

[nelslus]

PS: Madison Brengle is gonna win Miami. Because I said so.

[JTContinental]

Re Alexandrova and the question of why I like her, people here should explain why they like Pegula so much..Alexandrova has already won more tournaments,.

Nobody has to explain why you like a player (or not). That is a personal metric.
But ignoring numbers and records is a different issue. There is no question that Alexandrova has more titles (3-1). But Pegula has held a consistent higher ranking. So saying who is better should boil down to measuring those numbers. And all the others.

Pegula actually has two titles: Washington DC 2019 and Guadalajara 2022. She's 8 months older than Alexandrova and won the only WTA match they've
played - Rome 2021 R16.

Pegula also missed like two years on the tour due to injury.

[nelslus]

.... AND, I hate being on the Pegula Bandwagon Support Team here. I respect her a lot as a person and player. Her game just bores me. And, barring a Slam singles draw blood-bath, I don't see how she could ever threaten to win a singles Slam title. Hoping that her current doubles partner doesn't go the Pegula Slam singles route.

[ashkor87]

I like Pegula too..she is the kind of B+ player the game needs more of .just that I think people are going too far thinking she is an A player...reminds me of the time, just before Wimbledon, when some wise person in this forum told me to wait, I was going to look foolish when Badosa wins Wimbledon! Well, I am not the one who looks foolish now.

Badosa is another of those really good B+ players we need more of, let us appreciate them for what they are!

[ponchi101]

saw a bit of the Rybakina match on youtube - she seemed a bit late to the ball sometimes, as if she hasnt adjusted to the courts (they are a bit faster than IW, it seems, this year) - not altogether convicing as a performance but maybe she just needs this practice to get adjusted.. we shall see..

During the match, Davenport and the other commentator talked about that Rybakina may have some shoulder issues. Her shoulders were apparently taped up during IW, and she was stretching her shoulders at times today. Rybakina should have won this in two- up a set and a break- and then her game started going wonky- especially her serve and forehand. She actually could have lost in 3- until she played much better tennis the last few games of the third set, and her serve started working again.

Would not be at all surprised if Rybakina drops out with whatever is the latest Injury/Illness fad.

She was wearing some kino-tape at IW. I remember because it had some funky pattern and I was surprised, thinking they were tattoos. Then she stopped using them.

Last night, we should give some credit to Kalinskaya. Sure, Rybakina did not play her best match, and it seems she was having problems with the speed of the ball. But somebody was putting the speed on the ball.

[JazzNU]

And how old is Pegula, please? I like Alexandrova because she has tremendous power, which is useful on the kind of slow courts we are seeing more and more of...I still maintain a 'buy' on her..

I'm not sure if you're purposely missing the points I and others are making or not. But the reason I brought up Ekaterina's age is because she's not on Jessie's level yet, while being about the same age. So, both in their late 20s yes, but one is in the Top 5 and the other is not and hasn't made a significant name for herself yet. Casual tennis fans have never heard of her and honestly, have no reason to have heard of her because she hasn't made a significant dent at the grand slams and the higher profile 1000 events that they are more likely to tune in to watch. If this is the highest Jessie ever gets, then so be it, she's reached the top of women's tennis, but if this is the top for Alexandrova, my point was, that she won't have reached Jessie's level at any point in her career.

And another thing about their ages - Jessie's success has only come in recent years because she spent a good portion of her 20s injured. She was a hot prospect as a junior that couldn't get going in her pro career because of a series of injuries. That is not at all the case with Ekaterina, she's been playing. And again, I'm no big fan of Jessie. The way she stopped being injured speaks to just an unconscionable level of privilege that annoys the heck out of me as it gets passed off like any other player could've done the same.

Jessie's the more accomplished player, despite not having won more titles than Ekaterina. But again, you don't want to hang your hat on titles. A closer look will most definitely show Jessie with significantly more career earnings because the wins she has versus the ones that Ekaterina has had are just not comparable.