Talk About Tennis 2.0

JTContinental wrote: ↑Sun Jan 25, 2026 11:37 am She is a solid top 10 player, but has kind of stayed at this same point for a couple of years now

I think Svitolina is playing much better after returning from aternity.. hitting much harder, especially the forehand..she is 5-10% better than before, I would say.

That was some boring matches today - only one match out of 8 went more than the minimum number of sets.

I'm enjoying Svitolina dropping Russians. There's got to be a special satisfaction she gets from that.

Surprised by the Deminaur score. Not that I gave him no chance, but I the score was easy and I was expecting Bublik to show some more.
Maybe the home court effect took place.
And last night's match for Muchova was my final piece of data. Her chances of winning a slam are very small. She is reminding me of Laconte: a perfect conditions player. The strokes are gorgeous, the athleticism is superb, but the margin of error is zero. She will always have a small patch in every match in which the balls will be landing one inch out. And that is enough.

Svitolina has slam-winning potential if she would just believe in herself in a big match.

Ever since watching her eviscerate two-time slam winner Halep 6-1, 6-1 and one-time slam winner Wozniacki 6-4, 6-0 in her last two matches to win 2017 Toronto (after beating two-time slam winner Muguruza 6-4, 6-3 in the last two sets of her quarterfinal), I have been amazed at her passivity in slams when facing top players. She probably blew her chance to win one in that era because she has a power deficiency against Sabalenka and Rybakina, but I see no reason she cannot beat anyone else if she plays aggressively and with self-belief.

The match againt Gauff will be telling. Gauff-Muchova was the best match I've seen in the tournament, but Gauff is not going to overpower her. Can Svitolina hit with enough force and consistency to make Gauff get the yips on her serve and forehand, both of which have held up so far? I don't know, but I am very interested to find out.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 25, 2026 5:24 pm Surprised by the Deminaur score. Not that I gave him no chance, but I the score was easy and I was expecting Bublik to show some more.
Maybe the home court effect took place.

Bublik is a new player, but no one can totally change. He's not someone who takes his career seriously. He reverted back to his former self when he realized he was being outplayed.

jazzyg wrote: ↑Sun Jan 25, 2026 9:47 pm

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 25, 2026 5:24 pm Surprised by the Deminaur score. Not that I gave him no chance, but I the score was easy and I was expecting Bublik to show some more.
Maybe the home court effect took place.

Bublik is a new player, but no one can totally change. He's not someone who takes his career seriously. He reverted back to his former self when he realized he was being outplayed.