WTA 1000 Doha 2/9 - 2/15 2025

[ti-amie]

When I had lessons in "basic military training" during the 2nd year in University some 40 years ago, we had a major (our lecturer) who spilled his wisdom on us in the form of self-invented sayings. Like "sometimes I'm normal, but another times I'm relentless" (loosely translated). Today we've got a relentless version of Ostapenko ))

The way she was hitting today no one was going to beat her.

[ti-amie]

I watched almost all of Noskova vs Swiatek.

In the first set Noskova managed to control the pace of the match and if I recall correctly the set took almost an hour with Noskova taking it 7-6(1). Iga did her usual bathroom break/kit change and started the first set with a different game plan, one that seemed to confuse Noskova. By the beginning of the third set Noskova looked at her team and you could see she was out of ideas and she pretty much gave up. Still, she had her chances but didn't seem to be able to recognize and take advantage of them.

I also saw Pegula's match. The tl;dr is that she had no business winning that match in straight sets. Kasatkina had a decent lead and it looked as if she was going to force a third set but then as Kasatkina does she went on walkabout and when the dust settled Pegula won the set and the match.

Please don't take this the wrong way but Kasatkina's weight has changed? This is the first time I've seen her play this year and she looked - different.

[ti-amie]

Thursday Order of Play

Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM

RUS E. Alexandrova vs USA J. Pegula (6)
Followed By
KAZ E. Rybakina (5) vs POL I. Swiatek (2)
Followed By
TUN O. Jabeur vs LAT J. Ostapenko
Followed By
UKR M. Kostyuk vs USA A. Anisimova

Grandstand 1
Starts at 7:30 AM

ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (3) vs RUS A. Panova/HUN F. Stollar
Followed By
RUS M. Andreeva/RUS D. Shnaider vs KAZ A. Danilina/RUS I. Khromacheva (7)

Grandstand 2
Starts at 7:30 AM

BEL E. Mertens/AUS E. Perez (6) vs BRA B. Haddad Maia/GER L. Siegemund

[ponchi101]

When I had lessons in "basic military training" during the 2nd year in University some 40 years ago, we had a major (our lecturer) who spilled his wisdom on us in the form of self-invented sayings. Like "sometimes I'm normal, but another times I'm relentless" (loosely translated). Today we've got a relentless version of Ostapenko ))

Is there any other version of Alona? Just that when the balls land out, it is reckless. When they land in, it is as you say.

[ponchi101]

People need to recognize that Badosa simply isnt that good.. she did win IW a few years ago but after that? I am constantly surprised at ths leve of support and adulation she gets. Being beautiful helps, but it is not relevant to the game, is it? I have been saying this for years now. Probably the most over-rated player in the world right now.

Please do find me, in this forum, anybody that has ever said that Badosa is better than average. Or one post about anybody adulating her.
She is another top 15 player. She has had good results, has had bad ones, has been injured a lot. Nobody is expecting her to be "great".

[JTContinental]

People need to recognize that Badosa simply isnt that good.. she did win IW a few years ago but after that? I am constantly surprised at ths leve of support and adulation she gets. Being beautiful helps, but it is not relevant to the game, is it? I have been saying this for years now. Probably the most over-rated player in the world right now.

Please do find me, in this forum, anybody that has ever said that Badosa is better than average. Or one post about anybody adulating her.
She is another top 15 player. She has had good results, has had bad ones, has been injured a lot. Nobody is expecting her to be "great".

To be fair, I did recently say somewhere here that Badosa was a better player than Noskova, but that's still only giving her "better than average" status.

[ponchi101]

Roughly on the same park as saying Alexandrova is better than Kostyuk. Which would be a fair and arguable statement.

[ashkor87]

People need to recognize that Badosa simply isnt that good.. she did win IW a few years ago but after that? I am constantly surprised at ths leve of support and adulation she gets. Being beautiful helps, but it is not relevant to the game, is it? I have been saying this for years now. Probably the most over-rated player in the world right now.

Please do find me, in this forum, anybody that has ever said that Badosa is better than average. Or one post about anybody adulating her.
She is another top 15 player. She has had good results, has had bad ones, has been injured a lot. Nobody is expecting her to be "great".

Do you remember you thought she would beat Halep at Wimbledon...thr year Halep went to the finals

[ashkor87]

Ostapenko on a slow court is formidable. When she gets time to set up, she can simply unleash winners right and left. She gets beaten only when she gets hurried. vika, for instance, attacks her second serve mercilessly. .

[ponchi101]

People need to recognize that Badosa simply isnt that good.. she did win IW a few years ago but after that? I am constantly surprised at ths leve of support and adulation she gets. Being beautiful helps, but it is not relevant to the game, is it? I have been saying this for years now. Probably the most over-rated player in the world right now.

Please do find me, in this forum, anybody that has ever said that Badosa is better than average. Or one post about anybody adulating her.
She is another top 15 player. She has had good results, has had bad ones, has been injured a lot. Nobody is expecting her to be "great".

Do you remember you thought she would beat Halep at Wimbledon...thr year Halep went to the finals

I don't recall that. And that year, I was in Albania working, so I don't recall much of that Wimby.
But I never felt that Halep was a force on grass. And that was one of the most surprising results I have ever seen (the finals).
I stand the same. I agree: Badosa is not a force. She can lose to anybody, she can beat a few top players. That is all.

[ashkor87]

Please do find me, in this forum, anybody that has ever said that Badosa is better than average. Or one post about anybody adulating her.
She is another top 15 player. She has had good results, has had bad ones, has been injured a lot. Nobody is expecting her to be "great".

Do you remember you thought she would beat Halep at Wimbledon...thr year Halep went to the finals

I don't recall that. And that year, I was in Albania working, so I don't recall much of that Wimby.
But I never felt that Halep was a force on grass. And that was one of the most surprising results I have ever seen (the finals).
I stand the same. I agree: Badosa is not a force. She can lose to anybody, she can beat a few top players. That is all.

I remember it very well .it struck me as quite a shocking thing for someone to say, certainly someone who knows tennis..Btw Halep had already won Wimbledon a couple years before..'not a force'?!

[ashkor87]

People need to recognize that Badosa simply isnt that good.. she did win IW a few years ago but after that? I am constantly surprised at ths leve of support and adulation she gets. Being beautiful helps, but it is not relevant to the game, is it? I have been saying this for years now. Probably the most over-rated player in the world right now.

Please do find me, in this forum, anybody that has ever said that Badosa is better than average. Or one post about anybody adulating her.
She is another top 15 player. She has had good results, has had bad ones, has been injured a lot. Nobody is expecting her to be "great".

To be fair, I did recently say somewhere here that Badosa was a better player than Noskova, but that's still only giving her "better than average" status.

It struck me as a gratuitous comment, especially given what had just happened..do you still stand by that comment?

[ashkor87]

Roughly on the same park as saying Alexandrova is better than Kostyuk. Which would be a fair and arguable statement.

Huh? Where did that non sequitur come from?!

[ashkor87]

Let us close this discussion before it gets out of hand!

[ashkor87]

The two matchups I find interesting today are Alexandrova vs Pegula and Kostyuk vs Anisimova..the other 2 will be better matches but will go as expected ..
Pegula hasn't been consistent enough lately, else I would be tempted to call this a test of Tier 1 worthiness for Alexandrova. But she isn't Tier 1 anyway
Kostyuk and Anisimova are similar players, wonder what will happen...
Rybakina does have a 50% chance against Swiatek, she always does. ...but I wonder how present she will be, given the suspension (1 year) of Vukov...too bad.