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

[ashkor87]

Andreescu's serve also lacks bite these days.. all she does is spin it in.. dont remember her being like that.. injusy caused a more conservative motion?

[ashkor87]

I watched Sakkari vs Andreescu and once again Sakkari found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. She just kind of faded at the end and Andreescu held on to get the win.

Sakkari's signature, almost. I didnt see it but since you say it.. and that is her track record anyway

[JazzNU]

Speaking of sparks. Taro Daniel has broken Zverev three straight times, en route to a 6-0. Another one with a missing spark?

Don't think so. Not yet at least. Think this is him still working his way back from a bad injury. That's the way Knowles and Courier and several other commentators have framed it many times. I haven't gotten the impression that he's back to the physical shape he was in pre-injury just yet and it's expected to take a bit of time.

[ti-amie]

[ashkor87]

too many UFEs from Leylah.. again, seemed surprised by the pace and depth of Bencic' shots.. is the court faster than she expected? Bencic also seemed to have the game plan.. worked well for her!

[ashkor87]

Big matches coming up soon: Keys versus Krejcikova (replay of AO 21 when Krejcikova melted in the heat), Vondrousova vs Pliskova (V should win but then it is Pliskova, whom I have given up on..) then Muchova thereafter (same; Muchova should win but...).. Sabalenka playing like a champion again, very very impressive.

[ashkor87]

Fair enough..all I can say is I see nothing very special in Pegula',s game..she is a solid professional..to me, Alexandrova has something more. I am not much impressed by rankings, anyway. I am only contrasting her with Pegula because they are both close to 30, and because everyone here is so high on Pegula, for no reason I can see. I do get the point about injuries but all players are going through that these days.

I really can't recall a single person here being high on Pegula. I am with Nelslus: sure, she seems like a decent and likeable person, but her game bores me to tears.
If she wins a slam, I will not be surprised. She is in my group of "Others". But if you ask me to name the "for sure" slam champions, she does not make that list.

oh? did you not project Pegula as a possible AO champion? better chance than Rybakina? we had a mild argument about that..

[ashkor87]

Checked the video of uso 2019... Andreescu had a big flat first serve then, seems to have vanished now...even her second serve then was better than her first today...

[ponchi101]

...

I really can't recall a single person here being high on Pegula. I am with Nelslus: sure, she seems like a decent and likeable person, but her game bores me to tears.
If she wins a slam, I will not be surprised. She is in my group of "Others". But if you ask me to name the "for sure" slam champions, she does not make that list.

oh? did you not project Pegula as a possible AO champion? better chance than Rybakina? we had a mild argument about that..

Giving her chances to win a slam is not being high on her! I repeat, she is in my OTHER group. She reached the quarters, a fine result.
Again. If she wins a slam, I will not be surprised. If she never does, I won't either. And yes, with Rybakina's results for the end of 2022, I thought that Pegula was playing better tennis. Now, after Rybakina's first three months in 2023, it will take Pegula to win Miami to get to Rybakina's level. At the moment, Elena is playing much better.
And I did say Pegula could be a possible AO winner. A POSSIBLE. But my pick was Sabalenka, and I got lucky.

[ponchi101]

Speaking of sparks. Taro Daniel has broken Zverev three straight times, en route to a 6-0. Another one with a missing spark?

Don't think so. Not yet at least. Think this is him still working his way back from a bad injury. That's the way Knowles and Courier and several other commentators have framed it many times. I haven't gotten the impression that he's back to the physical shape he was in pre-injury just yet and it's expected to take a bit of time.

By the end of the match, it was just a plain bad day for Zverev. He could not hit anything inside the court.
Let's see how he does on the clay.

[ponchi101]

Big matches coming up soon: Keys versus Krejcikova (replay of AO 21 when Krejcikova melted in the heat), Vondrousova vs Pliskova (V should win but then it is Pliskova, whom I have given up on..) then Muchova thereafter (same; Muchova should win but...).. Sabalenka playing like a champion again, very very impressive.

When did she stop? She only lost a MS1000 final to a fellow slam champion, 7-6, 6-4. That's pretty good.

[JazzNU]

Speaking of sparks. Taro Daniel has broken Zverev three straight times, en route to a 6-0. Another one with a missing spark?

Don't think so. Not yet at least. Think this is him still working his way back from a bad injury. That's the way Knowles and Courier and several other commentators have framed it many times. I haven't gotten the impression that he's back to the physical shape he was in pre-injury just yet and it's expected to take a bit of time.

By the end of the match, it was just a plain bad day for Zverev. He could not hit anything inside the court.
Let's see how he does on the clay.

Oh I saw, he did not play good. Maybe he'll be find his game on clay, but I'm wondering if it'll take a few more months. I'm not sure, but I would assume part of his issue is going to be footwork in general and foot placement when striking the ball feeling like second nature given his injury. And at least to my eye, he looks thinner than he did before this injury, so I'm not sure his hitting is where it was before because of loss of conditioning and fitness due to the injury. And I know conventional wisdom is that clay is easier on the body. But he sustained the injury on clay, so that doesn't feel like it'll be a given from that standpoint either.

His injury was fairly rare, right? I certainly can't recall another quite like it. I wonder if there are others that have sustained a similar serious ankle injury in the past and were able to return to their previous form.

[ponchi101]

The only really bad ankle injury that comes to mind is Goffin's, when he ran into the tarp at RG. Beyond that, we all remember Muster's knee injury. That was triple ligaments broken. Brutal. Yet, Muster did come back. Let's hope Zverev's doctors are as good as Thomas.
And, I would be weary going back on clay. The first slide I would be like "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
The thinner Zverev. He did look like that, but I wonder if it is the atrocious shirt selection. To wear that shirt, you need to be Michael Mmoh, or Rafa. Zverev is so long that he does look thin.

[Suliso]

Out goes Samsonova...

[JTContinental]

Wow...she was up 3-0 in the third last time I checked the scoreboard, so it looks like she lost 6 games in a row.