Talk About Tennis 2.0

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 12:35 am The big 3 - Swiatek, sabalenka and rybakina, have really started pulling away from the pack now..Coco has a little distance to go, I think, before she makes it big 4....btw where is Pegula?

Coco needs to improve her serve to compete with those three regularly.

There is still hope for Pegula. Seems like she didn't play Madrid, right?

Meh, even without the serve, she competes just fine against Sabalenka (4-3) and Rybakina (1-0). Only 1 of those 9 matches wasn't competitive.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 12:35 pm Swiatek's demolition of junk-ball specialists like ST is good to see..she is showing us all how to deal with them..we all have to, even at the club level!

Agreed, ST played a thoughtless game with no finesse, at all. A bagel and a breadstick is what you get for that kind of game.

JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:19 am Meh, even without the serve, she competes just fine against Sabalenka (4-3) and Rybakina (1-0). Only 1 of those 9 matches wasn't competitive.

I stand by it. When she has done well against them, she has kept her DFs way down. This year, her DF percentage is pretty bad. Last year, she kept it under control. She won't beat Iga or Aryna giving them 10-12 free points.

I don't think Gauff will maintain her Top 5 ranking by the end of the year unless she improves the serve, then maybe.

I saw Pegula's name on one of the upcoming tournament entry lists.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 2:15 am I saw Pegula's name on one of the upcoming tournament entry lists.

My guess is she'll just play Rome. She evidently isn't in a hurry to get to Europe and, I think, not setting a ton of goals for the clay-court season. She was entered into Stuttgart but played BJK Cup instead.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 2:14 am

JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:19 am Meh, even without the serve, she competes just fine against Sabalenka (4-3) and Rybakina (1-0). Only 1 of those 9 matches wasn't competitive.

I stand by it. When she has done well against them, she has kept her DFs way down. This year, her DF percentage is pretty bad. Last year, she kept it under control. She won't beat Iga or Aryna giving them 10-12 free points.

I don't think Gauff will maintain her Top 5 ranking by the end of the year unless she improves the serve, then maybe.

I guess we'll see, but she's currently 5 in the race midway through the season, and based on current form, I don't really see anyone in the top 20 that would pass her besides Rybakina and maybe Collins. It's unrealistic to think she'll defend all those points this summer, but she won't lose all of them, either.

JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:04 am

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 2:14 am

JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:19 am Meh, even without the serve, she competes just fine against Sabalenka (4-3) and Rybakina (1-0). Only 1 of those 9 matches wasn't competitive.

I stand by it. When she has done well against them, she has kept her DFs way down. This year, her DF percentage is pretty bad. Last year, she kept it under control. She won't beat Iga or Aryna giving them 10-12 free points.

I don't think Gauff will maintain her Top 5 ranking by the end of the year unless she improves the serve, then maybe.

I guess we'll see, but she's currently 5 in the race midway through the season, and based on current form, I don't really see anyone in the top 20 that would pass her besides Rybakina and maybe Collins. It's unrealistic to think she'll defend all those points this summer, but she won't lose all of them, either.

Gauff has had a decent season so far - title and two big SFs - but that won't continue if she keeps DF'ing at her current clip. She's No. 5 and heading south with that DF rate.

I guess Coco can stay with Sabalenka et al but she isn't winning enough lately to even get to play them..early losses, before QFs..she is sort of fading as a force. I agree she needs to cut down her dfs..

Owendonovan wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 1:42 am

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 12:35 pm Swiatek's demolition of junk-ball specialists like ST is good to see..she is showing us all how to deal with them..we all have to, even at the club level!

Agreed, ST played a thoughtless game with no finesse, at all. A bagel and a breadstick is what you get for that kind of game.

I think that IS her game, she played the way she can. Against folks like Vika it worked..didn't against Iga

ashkor87 wrote:I guess Coco can stay with Sabalenka et al but she isn't winning enough lately to even get to play them..early losses, before QFs..she is sort of fading as a force. I agree she needs to cut down her dfs..

When Coco has stayed with the other top players, she has served better than she has been lately. She is in another serving slump. The mental toll is just as bad as the free points she is losing.

I should clarify - if Coco going to stay with them and beat them occasionally, she can 't serve as badly as she is right now. I think she was serving better at the beginning of the year, and last year she kept her DFs to an average level and greatly reduced them from 2022. So that's what I mean by she needs to improve her serve - she served 12% and 14% DFs the last two matches. Can't do that.

I do think she could stand to improve her serve overall, too, and since she worked with Roddick on it last year, I think she and Brad agree. But she at least has to keep her DF% to 5. She's lucky that she can defend so well so she can neutralize a lot of great returns off her 2nd serve.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 7:03 pm

What does it mean that Nadal didn't get the afternoon court time, and Alcaraz did?

Interesting that Putintseva has beaten Rybakina both times they have met. Wouldn't have expected it ..anything can happen in Madrid but still, I would expect Rybakina to win...she seems to have mastered the conditions .

Re Coco and DFs- DFs are mainly in the head..she will get over it with time..there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the mechanics of her serve .

From what little I have seen of BHM, she has the serve to push even Swiatek back onto her back foot...if she serves well, she can certainly trouble Iga..