'25 AO Day 12 Order of Play and Discussion

[ashkor87]

Very exciting match..Keys displayed a mental strength i have never yet seen from her..can she beat Sabalenka? I doubt it but I didn't think she could beat iga either..

[Oploskoffie]

As expected Badosa could not seriously trouble Sabalenka. Probably no one can on this surface.

From Paula's post-match interview on the subject of comparing Aryna to Iga: "With Aryna it's more like winners everywhere and sometimes it's like... I dunno... I'm just walking around the court because I'm feeling like she's playing a Playstation, you know, today she was like that. So sometimes I'm like, you know, I don't even have time to think..."

So yeah...

[joanjettson]

Amazing soundbite. I love Paula!

[joanjettson]

Has anyone else reached that point in the tournament where you keep your mute button handy?
Rennae Stubbs has me triggered! lol
Thank goodness for the ESPN Deportes option.

[ponchi101]

First time I have seen a mentally fragile Swiatek

Remember her at Wimbledon.
And yes, I am surprised that Maddie beat Iga, but look at the score. It could have gone either way with ease.
And if Maddie can beat Iga, you can't write her off against Aryna. She may have become a new player in the last few months: Marriage, new racquet, maybe a new perspective on the game.

[ashkor87]

Yes, true

[jazzyg]

First time I have seen a mentally fragile Swiatek

Then you have not been watching tennis the past year and really for most of her career away from clay.

When any player stands up to her on a faster surface, her game goes down dramatically. This has been true over and over and over. She still competes and is good enough to win on some of those occasions, but we're talking about a player who has not made any final on hard courts since Indian Wells, when she had a cake draw. There's a reason she's never beaten Ostapenko. There's a reason she has now lost two straight to Keys on hard courts. That's the reason she lost to Collins in the semis in Melbourne.

Keys has the potential to give Sabalenka a much better match than Swiatek would have. I agree with suliso that Sabalenka is probably unbeatable here, but Keys has a puncher's chance if she zones like she did for the better part of two sets at their U.S. Open semifinal two years ago. She has not reached that level here, though, and Sabalenka was more fragile then than she is now, so it's basically just hope on my part rather than reality.

Sabalenka likely would have beaten Swiatek 2 and 2.

When Stubbs said early in the third set that the level of play was off the charts good, I did a double take. Keys played well, but Swiatek was spraying balls all over the court in the second set and for much of the third, totally losing her confidence. The tiebreak was the only part of the match when both players were pretty sharp.

[ponchi101]

Only thing I would disagree is Sabalenka beating Iga 2 & 2. Beat her yes, by that score no. Iga is still an excellent competitor.

[jazzyg]

Keys has always thad his ability, and it's not just me saying it. It's every TV commentator out there. Her career was stymied by injury and self-doubt.

It's awesome to see her live up to her talent level here. She deserved to get fortunate in a match that, as ponch said, clearly could have gone the other way just as easily. Now we get to see how she reacts as the heavy underdog in a slam final rather than the heavy favorite, when she crashed and burned against Stephens eight years ago.

[jazzyg]

Only thing I would disagree is Sabalenka beating Iga 2 & 2. Beat her yes, by that score no. Iga is still an excellent competitor.

True, but I'm not ruling out Sabalenka beating Keys 2 and 2, either. Depends on her focus and Keys' nerves.

[ti-amie]

Eisenbud was talking about Madison having made a mistake changing from Wilson to Yonex the other day. It looks as if making that change, along with her coach now being her husband, has worked wonders for her. I wouldn't place money on her beating Sabalenka but you never know. Woz said the other day that Madison is more relaxed now and trusts what her coach/husband tells her.

[ponchi101]

From experience, going from Wilson to Yonex is not that hard. They are both control frames.
Going from Babolat to Yonex, like Wozniackci did, is a bit one. Totally different racquets.