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

[ashkor87]

Rybakina looks tired now, looking for a reason to lose.. wont be surprised if Cirstea knocks her off...Kvitova, may be not..

[ashkor87]

Sabalenka is clearly the shakiest member of the 'big 3' - capable of beating herself on any given day.. that is not true of the other two.. but still, Sabalenka is a member of the 'big 3'... dont really see a fourth, though Krejcikova made a case for it.. if Halep comes back, fit and healthy, she would be in the 'big 4', perhaps... she is a two-time major champion after all...

[mick1303]

Sabalenka is clearly the shakiest member of the 'big 3' - capable of beating herself on any given day.. that is not true of the other two.. but still, Sabalenka is a member of the 'big 3'... dont really see a fourth, though Krejcikova made a case for it.. if Halep comes back, fit and healthy, she would be in the 'big 4', perhaps... she is a two-time major champion after all...

The thing with WTA is that being a Slam champion or even 2-times Slam champion does not necessarily mean high standard. On ATP side the Slam being bo5 puts significantly higher threshold IMO. We currently have Muguruza, Azarenka and Kvitova in many recent draws, but they are far from favorites. And Stephens, Kenin, Raducanu, Andreescu are outright struggling.

[ponchi101]

Sabalenka is clearly the shakiest member of the 'big 3' - capable of beating herself on any given day.. that is not true of the other two.. but still, Sabalenka is a member of the 'big 3'... dont really see a fourth, though Krejcikova made a case for it.. if Halep comes back, fit and healthy, she would be in the 'big 4', perhaps... she is a two-time major champion after all...

Isn't that a position in which you are going by preconceived notions? Sabalenka loses to ANYBODY and there are immediate calls about her "defeating herself". She goes three or four matches hitting 2 -3 double faults, and we don't hear anything. Then she hits 6 in one match, and we immediately go to "her serving yips are back".
Yet, Rybakina hit 39 UE yesterday against Pegula, and 6 DF, and we applaud her mental strength. Yes, she won, but that was a very sloppy match. In her match against Badosa, she hit 69 UE's. It is as if some players get some particular label and it never gets washed away.
it reminds me of Lendl. He lost his first four slam finals and people were talking about how mentally weak he was; how he could not win the big matches. Nobody ever mentioned he lost to BORG AT RG (81), CONNORS AT THE USO (82-83) and Wilander at the Aussie (on grass, his least favored surface). Nope, he was mentally weak. Then he beats Mac in 5 at RG 84, so it was well. And then, he lost to Mac at the USO later that year and it was all back to the same narrative: he was mentally weak.
Sabalenka plays a high risk game; she blasts everything. So sure, she will have some losses that are odd, but notice something: whatever is happening, she continues to belt the ball. It does not seem like choking to me.

[ti-amie]

Cirstea is up 5-2 first set on Kvitova.

[ti-amie]

AND Kvitova is serving for the first set at 6-5...

[ti-amie]

Kvitova 7-5 first set.

[ti-amie]

[Deuce]

Some people continue to deny the obvious importance of the psychological element in tennis.
Oh, well...

We just had yet another fine example of the psychological element - Cirstea was up 5-2 in the 1st set vs. Kvitova, and Kvitova rattled off 5 straight games to win the set 7-5.
If this was not a radical psychological turn around - by both players - then either Cirstea suddenly lost her physical ability or Kvitova's physical ability suddenly improved dramatically. But even if one believes that to be the case, WHY did their physical abilities suddenly change.
Yeah... we're back to the psychological element.

And so, Sabalenka has a long standing reputation of beating herself - or choking - for one simple reason: because she chokes. To me, it cannot be more obvious. When the pressure increases, her level of play decreases.
It stands to reason that there will be more pressure vs. the better players - because they put more pressure on their opponents, obviously.

Sabalenka has improved her psychological strength this year - we see that in her results. She's not getting better results because she is suddenly hitting the ball better; she's getting better results because she is handling situations better and with more confidence.
That said, there is obviously still doubt in her mind about her own abilities. And we see that come out every once in a while still.

The mind and the body are attached. Being psychologically fragile in an activity like competitive sports leads very directly to a degree of physical incapacity. In other words, pressure affects performance. Those who handle the pressure better will be those who perform better physically. This has been so since time began, and isn't about to change anytime soon.

I will again use the analogy of a 2x4 piece of wood... Lie the 2x4 on solid ground - a floor, a road, whatever. Step onto that 2x4 and run and dance on it. No problem - easy.
Then put that very same 2x4 piece of wood 20 feet in the air, and supported so that it is just as stable as it was when it was on firm ground - but with nothing beside it and with only a cement floor 20 feet below it. Now try to run and dance on it.
Suddenly, it's not so easy to run and dance on it, despite it being the exact same 2x4. This is obviously because the mental state has changed significantly. There is now a severe consequence of falling off of the 2x4. That creates pressure. And that pressure results in less confidence. And the less confidence results in a degree of physical incapacity.
2+2=4.

[ti-amie]

Watching the match it seemed to me that Petra decided she wasn't going to lose and from that moment on she took over the match. Cirstea had nothing to counter what she was facing. She got off a few good shots here and there but Petra had her mind made up and got the 7-5, 6-4 win.

[ti-amie]

Tennis TV
@tennistv@bird.makeup
27-year-old @daniilmedwed has now reached the final of EVERY hardcourt Grand Slam + hardcourt Masters 1000 + ATP Finals:

Australian Open
Indian Wells
Miami or
Canada
Cincinnati
US Open
Shanghai
Paris
ATP Finals

#MiamiOpen

[Deuce]

Watching the match it seemed to me that Petra decided she wasn't going to lose and from that moment on she took over the match. Cirstea had nothing to counter what she was facing. She got off a few good shots here and there but Petra had her mind made up and got the 7-5, 6-4 win.

Yes... One could almost see the pendulum swinging...
The better Kvitova played, the more discouraged Cirstea became. And the more discouraged Cirstea became, the better Kvitova played... and it just kept going in the same direction, with Kvitova gaining in confidence and Cirstea losing confidence.

[ponchi101]

Well, Medvedev does claim he is a hard court expert. And his numbers claim so too.
But on Sunday he has to bring it to Carlitos (I don't see Sinner beating him).

[JTContinental]

Well, Medvedev does claim he is a hard court expert. And his numbers claim so too.
But on Sunday he has to bring it to Carlitos (I don't see Sinner beating him).

I'm feeling the SinnerGy (TM) of an upset

[ponchi101]

And I hope so; I have said already. I like Carlitos, but I don't want a dictatorship in the ATP.
But Sinner hits every ball the same, and Carlitos does not. He will (most likely) win it.