Talk About Tennis 2.0

Swiatek winning but not playing well....spraying forehands..

Sakkari is struggling against...checks notes - Diana Shnaider

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 1:07 am Swiatek winning but not playing well....spraying forehands..

Indeed. Not the level of tennis needed to win the whole thing.
She will win today, but needs to raise her level.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 1:20 am Sakkari is struggling against...checks notes - Diana Shnaider

I went down the rabbit hole the other day looking at a few names in the draw I didn't recognize in SP and she was one of them. She was a top junior and managed to come thru qualifying, not surprising to me that she's playing well.

I think the problem seems to be how there are only a select few juniors that get attention on them and it's a lot. But it's darn near radio silent on many others. This girl was ranked higher than Linda Fruhvirtova maybe 2 years ago in juniors. But we've only heard about one of them. Not sure if that's just thinking Linda's prospects on the pro tour are considerably better or what, but we just don't hear much about some of these top juniors and it makes it seem like they came out of nowhere even though they didn't.

On the other hand, Osorio is well known, I am still bitter she caused me to lose in SP two years ago! She is a fine player but all defense..

I don't want to wait longer to pick my choice for winner of the tournament - because the longer one waits, the easier the pick becomes, of course, as players get eliminated and/or injured, etc.

And so... I picked 'OTHER', and my 'other' pick is kind of a 'sleeper pick' - Anett Kontaveit.
I know she hasn't done much lately - but she did have that very hot streak at the end of 2021, proving that she has the physical game to beat the best players... and I think she's mature and experienced enough now to hold it together and be consistent enough to win this thing.
She won't have any pressure or expectations on her, so that won't be a factor even if she would find it difficult to deal with.
At this point, she's the kind of player who, if she makes the semi-finals here, people will be saying "Where did she come from? How did she get here?" It would be very subtle...

My second pick would probably Bencic, who is at a similar point in her career as Kontaveit - mature and experienced enough now to win a Major. And she's been playing well of late. I just think that she's a little more psychologically fragile and erratic than Kontaveit right now.

I don't have a clear idea who'll win (picked Garcia just for fun)... We collectively are picking lots of unproven players. It will be funny if at the end just another GS title for Swiatek.

Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:48 am I don't have a clear idea who'll win (picked Garcia just for fun)... We collectively are picking lots of unproven players. It will be funny if at the end just another GS title for Swiatek.

Maybe. But she did not look like GS material yesterday Vs Osorio. She won because she broke serve almost every time (I think Cami won two service games) bur she was also broken several times. That works against a player like Camila, but will not work against a Garcia, Ons or Sabalenka on a good day.
I picked Aryna also slightly in jest and because I would like her to win, but Iga is not assured of this.

Leylah versus Garcia is the most intriguing matchup yet .between two players who both have a chance of going all the way ...Garcia probably has a 60% chance..Rybakina versus Collins is another good one I am looking forward to ..again, both could win the whole thing ...I think the court is a bit too quick for Rybakina .

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 4:18 pm I picked Aryna also slightly in jest and because I would like her to win, but Iga is not assured of this.

Certainly not, but it's a conceivable outcome. Sabalenka is not a wild pick either.

I picked Pegula

Huge upset brewing..Volynets about to beat Kudermetova..who IS this young lady?!

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 2:15 am Huge upset brewing..Volynets about to beat Kudermetova..who IS this young lady?!

Volynets is a perennial qualifier. Her name is seen frequently - but very, very rarely in circumstances like this (having match points against a seeded player).
And with a name like Volynets, she was obviously born to play tennis...

And she just beat Kudermetova.

Somehow I feel that if her name was Netsvoly instead of Volynets, she may still play tennis, but we never would have heard of her...