Talk About Tennis 2.0

Samsonova justifying my confidence in her ..playing well on a slow surface as expected.

I voted in the WTA site poll as "completely unsurprised" by this win.

Couldn't see even a glimpse of Rybakina-Andreeva, was travelling...what happened there ? Did Andreeva play really well or did Rybakina play badly? Is this the end of Rybakjna or the emergence of Andreeva ?

Andreeva is frighteningly good..equally on the faster court at Dubai and the slower one at IW . definitely going to win a major this year!. only Swiatek has any chance against her..great match to look forward to

The coaching switch has helped her tremendously. She needed to learn shot selection, which is one of Conchita’s strengths

Purely by mistake I watched a bit of Dimitrov - Alcaraz from last year's Miami...then switched to IW this year..the difference in Dimitrov is palpable - slower,heavier, less flexible than last year. Age..

Thursday 13 March, 2025 (Day 12)

Stadium 1
Starts At 11:00 AM

Q. Zheng (8) Vs I. Swiatek (2)
Not Before 1:00 PM
A. Fils (20) Vs (5) D. Medvedev
Not Before 5:00 PM
A. Sabalenka (1) Vs L. Samsonova (24)
Not Before 7:00 PM
F. Cerundolo (25) Vs (2) C. Alcaraz

Stadium 2
Starts At 11:00 AM

T. Griekspoor Vs (12) H. Rune
Not Before 1:00 PM
M. Andreeva (9) Vs E. Svitolina (23)
Followed By
B. Bencic (WC) Vs M. Keys (5)
Not Before 5:00 PM
B. Shelton (11) Vs (13) J. Draper

Stadium 3
Starts At 12:00 PM

S. Hsieh/S. Zhang (5) Vs T. Mihalikova/O. Nicholls
Not Before 2:30 PM
K. Siniakova/T. Townsend (1) Vs A. Muhammad/D. Schuurs
Followed By
M. Arevalo/T. Babos Vs (4) D. Krawczyk/N. Skupski
Followed By
B. Mattek-Sands/M. Pavic (3) Vs J. Peers/D. Shnaider

Stadium 4
Starts At 12:00 PM

S. Errani/A. Vavassori (1) Vs M. Arevalo/T. Babos
Followed By
J. Peers/D. Shnaider Vs (2) E. Routliffe/M. Venus

Shelton's record against lefties is 6-6, while Draper's is 5-8. So Ben is marginally better against fellow lefties.

I remember Mac once saying that even he hated playing against lefties.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 2:32 pm I remember Mac once saying that even he hated playing against lefties.

Out of all prominent lefties JMac has the 3rd best percentage against fellow lefties (76.69%). 2nd is Connors with 79.2%. The best is Nadal by a country mile - 87.12%. But IMO this stat is heavily influenced by the fact that Nadal did not have prominent lefty adversary, while JMac and Connors had each other.

On a slow court like this one, Samsonova has a 50% chance against Sabalenka..Bencic probably has a 55% shot against Keys...saba last beat Samsonova at Cincy but that court was too fast for Samsonova anyway. Both matches are close...

On the other side of the draw, Swiatek and Andreeva should win easily- no fuss, no drama...Andreeva does everything that Svitolina does, only better..would not be surprised to see a bagel there..

mick1303 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 3:22 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 2:32 pm I remember Mac once saying that even he hated playing against lefties.

Out of all prominent lefties JMac has the 3rd best percentage against fellow lefties (76.69%). 2nd is Connors with 79.2%. The best is Nadal by a country mile - 87.12%. But IMO this stat is heavily influenced by the fact that Nadal did not have prominent lefty adversary, while JMac and Connors had each other.

Yep. The only lefties I can think of for Nadal were Verdasco and Lopez, both well below his level. For Connors and Mac, don't forget they also had to deal with Vilas, and maybe Mac ran a couple of times into Laconte.

Keys simply destroyed Bencic 6-1, 6-1. I thought this match would be competitive but Bencic was never in it.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 11:37 pm Keys simply destroyed Bencic 6-1, 6-1. I thought this match would be competitive but Bencic was never in it.

That's an odd score. I would say that Bencic still has not recovered the level of fitness to go the next day after a three setter.
Of course, I have not seen any matches.