Talk About Tennis 2.0

Thursday Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 9:30 PM

SUI B. Bencic (5) vs FRA V. Gracheva
Starts: 10:30 (Venue) 21:30--1d (Your time)
Upcoming
CAN L. Fernandez vs KAZ E. Rybakina (2)
Not before: 11:30 (Venue) 22:30--1d (Your time)
Upcoming
RUS E. Alexandrova (3) vs ROU J. Cristian
Follows previous match
Upcoming
JPN W. Sonobe vs USA S. Kenin (10)
Not before: 17:00 (Venue) 04:00 (Your time)

Show Court
Starts at 10:00 PM

Quarterfinals
AUS Perez /USA Townsend (1) vs TPE Chan /CHN Jiang
Starts: 11:00 (Venue) 22:00--1d (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
CAN Andreescu /CAN Mboko vs JPN Aoyama /ESP Bucsa
Follows previous match

nice win for Rybakina over Leylah, considering Leylah had beaten her earlier this year. Now she needs to beat Mboko - wont be so easy.

couldnt really tll much from the 5 minute highlights but it looked like Ryba's pace and depth didnt allow Leylah to come to the net too often, which would have been her plan, I imagine. On this slow court, only a volleyer can beat a powerful hitter like Rybakina. Is Mboko that? we shall see..

nice juicy matches coming up late in the year.. Bencic versus Muchova, for instance, may happen... havent seen them play much.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:03 am nice win for Rybakina over Leylah, considering Leylah had beaten her earlier this year. Now she needs to beat Mboko - wont be so easy.

couldnt really tll much from the 5 minute highlights but it looked like Ryba's pace and depth didnt allow Leylah to come to the net too often, which would have been her plan, I imagine. On this slow court, only a volleyer can beat a powerful hitter like Rybakina. Is Mboko that? we shall see..

I have never been able to understand that logic of yours. If volleying were effective on slow courts, the list of winners on clay would be filled with serve and volley players during the 70's, 80's and 90's. Instead, the last serve and volley player to win RG is (arguably) Nastase in '73. Noah was NOT a S&V player, and we know that the last two S&V players to reach the finals were Mac and Edberg, losing in 5.
I just don't see how you can make the claim.

Friday Order of Play

Center Court Starts at 9:30 PM

Quarterfinals
RUS A. Kalinskaya vs CZE L. Noskova (6)
Starts: 10:30 (Venue) 21:30--1d (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
CAN V. Mboko (9) vs KAZ E. Rybakina (2)
Not before: 11:30 (Venue) 22:30--1d (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
RUS E. Alexandrova (3) vs USA S. Kenin (10)
Follows previous match
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
SUI B. Bencic (5) vs CZE K. Muchova (8)
Not before: 17:00 (Venue) 04:00 (Your time)

Show Court Starts at 10:00 PM

Quarterfinals
USA Melichar-Martinez /CHN Xu vs KAZ Danilina /SRB Krunic (3)
Starts: 11:00 (Venue) 22:00--1d (Your time)
Quarterfinals
Upcoming
HUN Babos /BRA Stefani (4) vs CAN Dabrowski /USA Kenin
After suitable rest

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:03 am nice win for Rybakina over Leylah, considering Leylah had beaten her earlier this year. Now she needs to beat Mboko - wont be so easy.

couldnt really tll much from the 5 minute highlights but it looked like Ryba's pace and depth didnt allow Leylah to come to the net too often, which would have been her plan, I imagine. On this slow court, only a volleyer can beat a powerful hitter like Rybakina. Is Mboko that? we shall see..

Mboko has only won two matches since her win in Canada, both of them here.

Paolini has qualified for the YEC; Rybakina is one win away

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 3:30 pm

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:03 am nice win for Rybakina over Leylah, considering Leylah had beaten her earlier this year. Now she needs to beat Mboko - wont be so easy.

couldnt really tll much from the 5 minute highlights but it looked like Ryba's pace and depth didnt allow Leylah to come to the net too often, which would have been her plan, I imagine. On this slow court, only a volleyer can beat a powerful hitter like Rybakina. Is Mboko that? we shall see..

I have never been able to understand that logic of yours. If volleying were effective on slow courts, the list of winners on clay would be filled with serve and volley players during the 70's, 80's and 90's. Instead, the last serve and volley player to win RG is (arguably) Nastase in '73. Noah was NOT a S&V player, and we know that the last two S&V players to reach the finals were Mac and Edberg, losing in 5.
I just don't see how you can make the claim.

did I say 'serve and volley'?

You said volleying.
Which still applies. Sure, Roger and Rafa were more than adequate at the net, but neither won RG by being a better volleyer than the opponent. Borg ruled there by coming to the net to shake hands with his beaten opponent.
Kuerten and Lendl won three times at RG with no net game to speak of.
So, please. Why do you say that the only way to beat a power player if by volleying, when every single player at the top of the WTA suffers from net-phobia.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 3:32 am Why do you say that the only way to beat a power player if by volleying

or, of course, by being even more powerful.
My logic is simple - on a slow court, it isnt possible to win points any more by just returning the ball - used to be the case but rare nowadays, because if you keep just returning, you can at best be neutral. There are, therefore, only two ways to win a point on a slow court - either you should be so powerful you can hit through the court (think Sabalenka, Noskova) or you have to be able to finish the point at the net - not by rushing there blindly, but behind good approach shots or by sensing when your opponent is off balance/out of position.. see Muchova, Leylah. Coco, for instance, for all her great defensive skills, also has the best, most powerful backhand in the game and a powerful serve, when it lands.
Medvedev, for instance, hates slow courts because he neither has the power nor the volleys. and so on.

good win for Rybakina - stood up to pressure well, something she has not done much lately..now Riyadh.. she never does well at the WTF so I dont expect much there.

Given that Rybakina played YEC only twice and each time went 1-2, it is too small of a sample size to suggest any patterns.

Super nice comeback win for Bencic over Muchova. She will now finish the year at #11. Not bad at all for a comeback year - better than Osaka or Svitolina.

IMO it is a questionable move by Rybakina - to withdraw from the semis in Tokyo. It is a respectable WTA tournament with a rich history, which was within reach. WTA finals is a big gamble on the other hand - it is entirely possible that her points gain there will be less than points from Tokyo. And it's not like completing Tokyo would critically lower her chances in WTF - still there is almost a week to rest.

I find these kind of w/o insulting. As you say, Tokyo has history.

Rybakina is blasé about so many aspects of tennis, which is why I find it hard to be a fan