Talk About Tennis 2.0

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2025 2:18 am My point is - why make such a big deal about rankings,? And complain so much about wild cards? Maybe we need more wild cards!

Remember the 70's? (we are old enough). When players would get wild cards and invitations to a tournament because they were the tournament director's friend? You want to go back there, with the tournament having more wild cards.
And I don't see anybody complaining about wild cards. We are talking about a player that is receiving an inordinate amount of wild cards despite the fact that she then seldom produces results, which means she is getting preferential treatment. I am sure that there are enough players, ranked around the cutting point, that would like to get a WC now and then.
This is very much like Donald Young. For a while there, he received WC after WC. And yet, he never made it deep into a tournament. So the other players thought it was unfair. This is more or less along those lines. Emma does not deserve the WC based on her ranking (yes, they mean something) and her level of play. She only gets them because of the marketing and her miraculous three weeks, 4 years ago.

as I expected, but a bit sooner than I expected, Ostapenko and Anisimova both out in the very first round!

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2025 1:25 pm She only gets them because of the marketing

something wrong with that?! Tournaments need to market themselves.. if they had any sense, they would give wild cards to all the past grand slam champions as long as they can stand and walk... $$$ is what it is about, no point moralizing about it!

No. I said that for Doha. That there was a considerable expat colony in the Gulf and she would bring in bodies.
But the other players may say it is not fair.
Hey, I agree with her getting the WC's. It is a business. But I can see the merits of the opposite opinion.

again, as I had predicted, Alexandrova out in the first round to Kudermetova. Too bad betting on sports is illegal where I live! (huge amounts are wagered, and matches are fixed, in cricket but it is all illegal)

Tuesday Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 2:00 AM

GER E. Lys vs ITA J. Paolini (4)
Followed By
BLR V. Azarenka vs POL I. Swiatek (2)
Followed By
USA C. Gauff (3) vs USA M. Kessler
Followed By
CHN Q. Zheng (7) vs USA P. Stearns
Followed By
BLR A. Sabalenka (1) vs RUS V. Kudermetova

Court 1
Starts at 2:00 AM

KAZ E. Rybakina (6) vs JPN M. Uchijima
Followed By
RUS L. Samsonova vs USA J. Pegula (5)
Followed By
DEN C. Tauson vs UKR E. Svitolina
Followed By
GBR E. Raducanu vs CZE K. Muchova (14)
Followed By
SUI B. Bencic vs USA E. Navarro (8)

Court 2
Starts at 2:00 AM

RUS D. Shnaider (11) vs CZE L. Noskova
Followed By
RUS A. Potapova vs UKR D. Yastremska
Followed By
CZE L. Noskova/KAZ Y. Putintseva vs CAN G. Dabrowski/NZL E. Routliffe (2)
Followed By
ROU S. Cirstea vs USA A. Parks
Followed By
USA M. Kessler/DEN C. Tauson vs FRA K. Mladenovic/CHN S. Zhang

Court 3
Starts at 2:00 AM

BEL E. Mertens vs ESP P. Badosa (9)
Followed By
USA S. Kenin vs UKR M. Kostyuk
Followed By
ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (4) vs RUS A. Panova/HUN F. Stollar
Followed By
CZE M. Vondrousova vs RUS M. Andreeva (12)
Followed By
SVK T. Mihalikova/GBR O. Nicholls vs CHN Y. Xu/CHN Z. Yang

Happy to see Cirstea back .just beat Kasatkina. She is not a great player, not even Tier 2, but a good solid player, good for the game. That was a potentially career- ending condition she had .

Coco is inching closer and closer to that "she has REAL problems" territory.

Wednesday Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 2:00 AM

CHN Q. Zheng (7) vs USA P. Stearns
Followed By
UKR D. Yastremska vs POL I. Swiatek (2)
Followed By
TBD vs TBD
Followed By
BLR A. Sabalenka (1) vs DEN C. Tauson
Followed By
TBD vs TBD

Court 1
Starts at 2:00 AM

SUI B. Bencic vs USA E. Navarro (8)
Followed By
KAZ E. Rybakina (6) vs ESP P. Badosa (9)
Followed By
USA D. Krawczyk/MEX G. Olmos vs TPE S. Hsieh/LAT J. Ostapenko (3)
Followed By
USA M. Kessler vs CZE K. Muchova (14)
Followed By
USA M. Kessler/DEN C. Tauson vs FRA K. Mladenovic/CHN S. Zhang

Court 2
Starts at 2:00 AM

ROU S. Cirstea vs USA A. Parks
Followed By
CZE L. Noskova vs USA J. Pegula (5)
Followed By
KAZ A. Danilina/RUS I. Khromacheva (8) vs USA B. Mattek-Sands/BRA L. Stefani
Followed By
CZE L. Noskova/KAZ Y. Putintseva vs CAN G. Dabrowski/NZL E. Routliffe (2)
Followed By
BRA B. Haddad Maia/GER L. Siegemund vs USA A. Muhammad/NED D. Schuurs

Court 3
Starts at 2:00 AM

CZE M. Vondrousova vs RUS M. Andreeva (12)
Followed By
USA S. Kenin vs ITA J. Paolini (4)
Followed By
SVK T. Mihalikova/GBR O. Nicholls vs CHN Y. Xu/CHN Z. Yang
Followed By
ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (4) vs RUS A. Panova/HUN F. Stollar
Followed By
CZE K. Siniakova/USA T. Townsend (1) vs USA P. Stearns/NZL L. Sun

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2025 4:39 am If Coco flops again, I will get very concerned about her!

Now I am concerned! Couldn't see the match..what happened ? Dfs and forehand ?

Anisimova's defeat was totally predictable, turnaround from slow court to doha to faster court here, is too difficult when you have hardly a day to practice. Coco has no real excuse...

saw a bit of the 5 minute Youtube highlights.. at first, Coco's forehand was too short, as usual.. did get more depth as the match went on but Kessler seems really good, able to absorb and redirect pace, will do well on fast hard courts..a bit like Bencic.

As I have remarked earlier, many times, Coco's problem isn't ufes on the forehand, it is that she pops it up short, inviting her opponent to kill it. That shows up in the stats as a winner by her opponent..not anything by Coco. She lets the ball get too close to her, and can't put her weight behind her shot. Footwork issue, fixable

do people here still doubt that Noskova is a future champion? Just beat Pegula, who is my eternal benchmark - if you can beat her, you are a very very good player indeed.