by ti-amie Tournament: Qatar Total Energies Open 2025
Location: Doha, Qatar
Dates: February 9 - February 15, 2025
Level: WTA 1000
Total Financial Commitment: $3,654,963
Surface: Hard
ARYNA SABALENKA, 1
IGA SWIATEK, POL, 2
COCO GAUFF, USA, 3
JASMINE PAOLINI, ITA, 4
QINWEN ZHENG, CHN, 5
JESSICA PEGULA, USA, 6
ELENA RYBAKINA, KAZ, 7
EMMA NAVARRO, USA, 8
BARBORA KREJCIKOVA, CZE, 9
DARIA KASATKINA, 10
DANIELLE COLLINS, USA, 11
PAULA BADOSA, ESP, 12
DIANA SHNAIDER, 13
MADISON KEYS, USA, 14
MIRRA ANDREEVA, 15
BELINDA BENCIC, SUI, 15
ANNA KALINSKAYA, 16
BEATRIZ HADDAD MAIA, BRA, 17
MARTA KOSTYUK, UKR, 18
DONNA VEKIC, CRO, 19
KAROLINA MUCHOVA, CZE, 20
LIUDMILA SAMSONOVA, 21
JELENA OSTAPENKO, LAT, 22
YULIA PUTINTSEVA, KAZ, 23
VICTORIA AZARENKA, 24
KATIE BOULTER, GBR, 25
MAGDALENA FRECH, POL, 26
ELINA SVITOLINA, UKR, 27
LINDA NOSKOVA, CZE, 28
LEYLAH FERNANDEZ, CAN, 29
MARIA SAKKARI, GRE, 30
EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA, 31
ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA, 32
DAYANA YASTREMSKA, UKR, 33
ELISE MERTENS, BEL, 34
AMANDA ANISIMOVA, USA 35
ANASTASIA POTAPOVA, 36
XINYU WANG, CHN, 37
SORANA CIRSTEA, ROU, 37 SR
MARKETA VONDROUSOVA, CZE, 38
ONS JABEUR, TUN, 39
MAGDA LINETTE, POL, 40
ELINA AVANESYAN, ARM, 41
Ranking as of 20th January
by ti-amie Qualifying Draw
V. Kudermetova (1) vs S. Errani
N. Hibino vs E. Andreeva (9)
Y. Yuan (2) vs C. Bucsa
Y. Starodubtseva vs L. Siegemund (10)
P. Kudermetova (3) vs S. Zheng (WC)
Y. Bonaventure vs A. Parks (13)
M. Uchijima (4) vs A. Zakharova
C. Paquet vs S. Kartal (14)
R. Zarazua (5) vs D. Semenistaja
J. Niemeier vs G. Minnen (12)
K. Volynets (6) vs I. Oz (WC)
R. Masarova vs H. Baptiste (15)
K. Rakhimova (7) vs D. Saville
E. Ruse vs T. Townsend (11)
V. Gracheva (8) vs A. Schmiedlova
A. Ito vs A. Bondar (16)
by ti-amie Main draw updates: Muchova out with a leg injury. Raducanu was saying she was willing to play Qualies here but guess what? She's got a MDWC.
Keys and Collins are out.
Kessler and Stearns are in. So are Sramkova, Siniakova, A. Krueger.
by
ponchi101 ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 12:13 am
Main draw updates: Muchova out with a leg injury.
Raducanu was saying she was willing to play Qualies here but guess what? She's got a MDWC.
Keys and Collins are out.
Kessler and Stearns are in. So are Sramkova, Siniakova, A. Krueger.
There is a considerable Brits expat colony in the Peninsula. So, good marketing.
by ti-amie Main Draw Singles
A. Sabalenka (1)/Bye
E. Raducanu (WC) vs E. Alexandrova
E. Mertens vs C. Tauson
Qualifier vs A. Kalinskaya (14)
D. Kasatkina (10) vs A. Potapova
E. Avanesyan vs Wang Xinyu
M. Vondrousova vs E. Svitolina
Bye/J. Pegula (6)
C. Gauff (3)/Bye
M. Kostyuk vs Z. Sonmez (WC)
Qualifier vs M. Linette
M. Frech vs B. Haddad Maia (13)
P. Badosa (9) vs K. Siniakova
A. Anisimova vs V. Azarenka
Qualifier vs L. Fernandez
Bye/E. Navarro (8)
Q. Zheng (7)/Bye
M. Kessler vs O. Jabeur
A. Krueger vs S. Kenin (WC)
Qualifier vs D. Shnaider (11)
L. Samsonova (16) vs L. Sun
Qualifier vs J. Ostapenko
Y. Yuan vs C. Garcia (WC)
Bye/J. Paolini (4)
E. Rybakina (5)/Bye
D. Yastremska vs P. Stearns
A. Kalinina vs R. Sramkova
Qualifier vs M. Andreeva (12)
D. Vekic (15) vs L. Noskova
Y. Putintseva vs Qualifier
M. Sakkari vs Qualifier
Bye/I. Swiatek (2)
by
ti-amie ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 4:55 pm
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 12:13 am
Main draw updates: Muchova out with a leg injury.
Raducanu was saying she was willing to play Qualies here but guess what? She's got a MDWC.
Keys and Collins are out.
Kessler and Stearns are in. So are Sramkova, Siniakova, A. Krueger.
There is a considerable Brits expat colony in the Peninsula. So, good marketing.
Excellent point
by ashkor87 What is the story on Bencic? Not entered here..?
by
Suliso ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 11:40 am
What is the story on Bencic? Not entered here..?
No, but will be going to Dubai a week later. She's still on a protected ranking. I think you can use it limited number of times. Now back in the top 100 and likely won't need it for too much longer.
by ashkor87 Hoping for a good show by Coco..her AO was pathetic...
by
ponchi101 ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 12:33 pm
Hoping for a good show by Coco..her AO was pathetic...
Agree. But that FH and the serving yips are concerning. She needs a good tournament to turn it around, otherwise they can become standard issues in her game.
by
meganfernandez ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 3:51 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 12:33 pm
Hoping for a good show by Coco..her AO was pathetic...
Agree. But that FH and the serving yips are concerning. She needs a good tournament to turn it around, otherwise they can become standard issues in her game.
Coco's AO prep was great, and she played well at the AO until Badosa, right? I can't remember. I thought she was sharp and then her FH disappeared against Badosa again. She didn't sound panicked afterward, which is good. I'm looking forward to see how she comes out, too.
by
JTContinental meganfernandez wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 6:05 pm
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 3:51 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 12:33 pm
Hoping for a good show by Coco..her AO was pathetic...
Agree. But that FH and the serving yips are concerning. She needs a good tournament to turn it around, otherwise they can become standard issues in her game.
Coco's AO prep was great, and she played well at the AO until Badosa, right? I can't remember. I thought she was sharp and then her FH disappeared against Badosa again. She didn't sound panicked afterward, which is good. I'm looking forward to see how she comes out, too.
Agreed she only played one bad match in the last 3 months,
by ponchi101 I saw two of her matches. To me, she looked hesitant with the FH.
by ti-amie Sunday Order of Play
Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM
GRE M. Sakkari vs ROU E. Ruse
Followed By
USA K. Volynets vs RUS M. Andreeva (12)
Followed By
GBR E. Raducanu vs RUS E. Alexandrova
Followed By
USA A. Anisimova vs BLR V. Azarenka
Grandstand 1
Starts at 6:00 AM
CHN Y. Yuan vs FRA C. Garcia
Followed By
BEL G. Minnen vs CAN L. Fernandez
Followed By
RUS L. Samsonova (16) vs NZL L. Sun
Followed By
POL M. Frech vs BRA B. Haddad Maia (13)
Grandstand 2
Starts at 6:00 AM
USA A. Parks vs RUS D. Shnaider (11)
Followed By
BEL E. Mertens vs DEN C. Tauson
Followed By
UKR M. Kostyuk vs TUR Z. Sonmez
Followed By
ARM E. Avanesyan vs CHN X. Wang
Grandstand 3
Starts at 6:00 AM
ESP C. Bucsa vs RUS A. Kalinskaya (14)
Followed By
USA B. Mattek-Sands/CZE L. Safarova vs CHN Y. Xu/CHN Z. Yang
Followed By
ESP C. Bucsa/JPN M. Kato vs CHN X. Jiang/TPE F. Wu
Grandstand 4
Starts at 6:00 AM
HUN T. Babos/USA N. Melichar-Martinez vs USA P. Stearns/BRA L. Stefani
Followed By
NOR U. Eikeri/ROU M. Niculescu vs CZE L. Noskova/KAZ Y. Putintseva
by ashkor87 Suddenly Parks comes to life..beats Shnaider in the first round! Am happy but also frustrated..why can't she play like this more often?
by ashkor87 Court looks slow..Swiatek will love it, no wonder she already has 3 in a row.
Swiatek 70%
Sabalenka 20%
Rybakina 5%
Field 5%
I don't expect Coco etc to do much here, can't hit through the slow court. Among my favorites, Samsonova may do well, so might Noskova..Alexandrova will find the court too slow...not my favorite but Pegula will struggle too ..I think Keys is already out with an injury, else she could have been a force. Certainly not Paolini.
by ashkor87 I know court speed make at most 5-10% difference, at the margin, but these courts look extreme - in the Indian Wells league, where odd things do happen.
by
ponchi101 ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 1:13 pm
Suddenly Parks comes to life..beats Shnaider in the first round! Am happy but also frustrated..why can't she play like this more often?
Because that is what makes her Alicia Parks.
She has gorgeous strokes and her athleticism is excellent. But we keep forgetting, a lot of times, that there is also the factor of precision. The great ones can hit the same shot, over and over, and make it land within a very small area. Connors was the best example: he could make a ball land within one foot INSIDE the baseline with great regularity.
Parks simply hits the ball wonderfully, but her margin of error is huge. They can land in for a wonderful winner, or fly out by three feet for a monstruous error. It is what is happening to Muchova: when they land in, her strokes are a sight to behold. But when they land two inches out, and that is happening more and more frequently, they are equally gorgeous, but they were out.
I don't think that your prediction that Parks will be a Wimby winner will come true. Her standard deviation is too big.
by JTContinental She needs a coach that can teach her shot selection, because she seems absolutely clueless on that front.
by
ti-amie ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 09, 2025 1:13 pm
Suddenly Parks comes to life..beats Shnaider in the first round! Am happy but also frustrated..why can't she play like this more often?
I agree. She played with confidence and smarts frustrating Shnaider.
by ti-amie Monday Order of Play
Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM
RUS D. Kasatkina (10) vs RUS P. Kudermetova
Upcoming
GRE M. Sakkari vs POL I. Swiatek (2)
Upcoming
USA M. Kessler vs TUN O. Jabeur
Upcoming
ESP P. Badosa (9) vs CZE K. Siniakova
Grandstand 1
Starts at 6:00 AM
CRO D. Vekic (15) vs CZE L. Noskova
Upcoming
JPN A. Ito vs LAT J. Ostapenko
Upcoming
CAN L. Fernandez vs USA E. Navarro (8)
Upcoming
CZE M. Vondrousova vs UKR E. Svitolina
Grandstand 2
Starts at 6:00 AM
USA A. Krueger vs USA S. Kenin
Upcoming
RUS V. Kudermetova vs POL M. Linette
Upcoming
UKR D. Yastremska vs USA P. Stearns
Upcoming
TPE H. Chan/RUS V. Kudermetova (5) vs UKR M. Kostyuk/ROU E. Ruse
Grandstand 3
Starts at 6:00 AM
UKR A. Kalinina vs SVK R. Sramkova
Upcoming
USA D. Krawczyk/MEX G. Olmos vs JPN S. Aoyama/JPN E. Hozumi
Upcoming
RUS A. Panova/HUN F. Stollar vs FRA K. Mladenovic/CHN S. Zhang
Upcoming
SVK T. Mihalikova/GBR O. Nicholls vs KAZ A. Danilina/RUS I. Khromacheva (7)
Upcoming
CAN L. Fernandez/UKR N. Kichenok vs USA A. Muhammad/NED D. Schuurs (8)
Grandstand 4
Starts at 6:00 AM
KAZ Y. Putintseva vs JPN M. Uchijima
Upcoming
BEL E. Mertens/AUS E. Perez (6) vs CHN X. Wang/CHN S. Zheng
Upcoming
BRA B. Haddad Maia/GER L. Siegemund vs RUS E. Alexandrova/RUS L. Samsonova
Upcoming
RUS M. Andreeva/RUS D. Shnaider vs USA A. Krueger/USA J. Pegula
by ashkor87 Yastremska-Stearns, Fernandez-Navarro, Vekic-Noskova are the three am looking forward to.. they will tell us a bit about some young ones (actually F and Navarro are both pretty much the same age, aren't they?)
by ashkor87 I don't know enough about Stearns but the court will suit Yastremska..she is so powerful...
by ashkor87 Noskova beat Vekic 2 and 4 as she should on a slow court...
by ashkor87 watched a bit of Navarro-Fernandez.. Leylah was stepping in two feet inside the baseline to return serve, it is so slow. Navarro wasnt blown away but had few answers..
by ti-amie Tuesday Order of Play
Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM
USA C. Gauff (3) vs UKR M. Kostyuk
Followed by
CHN Q. Zheng (7) vs TUN O. Jabeur
Followed by
BLR A. Sabalenka (1) vs RUS E. Alexandrova
Followed by
ESP P. Badosa (9) vs USA A. Anisimova
Grandstand 1
Starts at 6:00 AM
FRA C. Garcia vs ITA J. Paolini (4)
Followed by
KAZ E. Rybakina (5) vs USA P. Stearns
Followed by
UKR E. Svitolina vs USA J. Pegula (6)
Followed by
RUS D. Kasatkina (10) vs ARM E. Avanesyan
Grandstand 2
Starts at 6:00 AM
USA S. Kenin vs USA A. Parks
Followed by
SVK R. Sramkova vs RUS M. Andreeva (12)
Followed by
POL M. Linette vs POL M. Frech
Followed by
RUS A. Panova/HUN F. Stollar vs USA A. Muhammad/NED D. Schuurs (8)
Grandstand 3
Starts at 6:00 AM
CZE L. Noskova vs KAZ Y. Putintseva
Followed by
RUS L. Samsonova (16) vs LAT J. Ostapenko
Followed by
ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (3) vs NOR U. Eikeri/ROU M. Niculescu
Followed by
CHN X. Jiang/TPE F. Wu vs TPE S. Hsieh/LAT J. Ostapenko (2)
Grandstand 4
Starts at 6:00 AM
BEL E. Mertens vs ESP C. Bucsa
Followed by
BRA B. Haddad Maia/GER L. Siegemund vs USA S. Kenin/UKR L. Kichenok (4)
Followed by
BEL E. Mertens/AUS E. Perez (6) vs CHN Y. Xu/CHN Z. Yang
by ashkor87 Gauff -Kostyuk is always interesting ..the slow conditions favor Kostyuk but has she really found her game? Samsonova -Ostapenko, both have the power, osta has the class ..can Samsonova punish that second serve? Not sure she can.the other matchups don't look too interesting..Alexandrova won't be able to stand up to Sabalenka, Anisimova should beat Badosa but I am not sure she has really found her game yet, though the first match was encouraging. Anisimova did win the only time they met though, and I do give h2h a lot of weight ..much more than rankings or ELO.
If A beats B once, she is likely to do it again unless conditions are too different ..
by
skatingfan ashkor87 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 5:39 am
I don't know enough about Stearns but the court will suit Yastremska..she is so powerful...
Didn't work out that way.
by
ashkor87 skatingfan wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 1:33 am
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 10, 2025 5:39 am
I don't know enough about Stearns but the court will suit Yastremska..she is so powerful...
Didn't work out that way.
As I said, I don't know much about Stearns
by ti-amie Meanwhile Leylah took out Navarro 2 & 2 which is an upset in my book.
ETA: The head to head is 3-1 in Leylah's favor after this match.
by ashkor87 Navarro didn't seem present...looked a bit purposeless, could be just inexperience- Leylah is the same age but vastly more experienced
by
ashkor87 ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 3:02 am
which is an upset in my book.
[/quote
not really a suprise, Leylah and Emma are in the same class - LF is a USO runner-up, after all.
by Suliso The second bad match by Coco?
by ponchi101 She doesn't inspire the most remote doubt in the other players. And when she hits 2 DF's in the game to stay in the match, the message to the other players is not one of confidence.
by
ashkor87 Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 3:08 pm
The second bad match by Coco?
Yes but as I had said, this slower court suits Kostyuk..she has the power and used it...Kostyuk played really well. Coco still doesn't make room on her forehand...no improvement there
by JTContinental Coco has never done well at this tournament--this is her second first match exit in a row and her best showing is the QF
by
ashkor87 ashkor87 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 12:46 am
Gauff -Kostyuk is always interesting ..the slow conditions favor Kostyuk but has she really found her game? Samsonova -Ostapenko, both have the power, osta has the class ..can Samsonova punish that second serve? Not sure she can.the other matchups don't look too interesting..Alexandrova won't be able to stand up to Sabalenka, Anisimova should beat Badosa but I am not sure she has really found her game yet, though the first match was encouraging. Anisimova did win the only time they met though, and I do give h2h a lot of weight ..much more than rankings or ELO.
If A beats B once, she is likely to do it again unless conditions are too different ..
Well well well! ..maybe Alexandrova is better than I think!
by
ashkor87 JTContinental wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:18 pm
Coco has never done well at this tournament--this is her second first match exit in a row and her best showing is the QF
For the same reason she doesn't do well at IW
by ti-amie Wednesday Order of Play
Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM
LAT J. Ostapenko vs ITA J. Paolini (4)
Followed By
CZE L. Noskova vs POL I. Swiatek (2)
Followed By
TUN O. Jabeur vs USA S. Kenin
Followed By
USA A. Anisimova vs CAN L. Fernandez
Grandstand 1
Starts at 6:00 AM
KAZ E. Rybakina (5) vs SVK R. Sramkova
Followed By
RUS D. Kasatkina (10) vs USA J. Pegula (6)
Followed By
RUS E. Alexandrova vs BEL E. Mertens
Followed By
JPN S. Aoyama/JPN E. Hozuma vs KAZ A. Danilina/RUS I. Khromacheva (7)
Grandstand 2
Starts at 6:00 AM
TPE H. Chan/RUS V. Kudermetova (5) vs USA P. Stearns/BRA L. Stefani
Followed By
CAN G. Dabrowski/NZL E. Routliffe (1) vs RUS M. Andreeva/RUS D. Shnaider
Followed By
UKR M. Kostyuk vs POL M. Linette
by ti-amie
I think you guys said it best: with a slow hard court Iga has the best chance.
by 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.
by ashkor87 Anisiomova likes slow courts because she needs the time to move to the ball and set up and hit - and she has the power to hit winners even on a slow court. The perfect profile of a slow-court player.
by ashkor87 Ostapenko Paolini..it is the only interesting match today ...theory says Ostapenko should win, but I doubt it, somehow..Paolini can play well on slow courts too .though her game isnt ideal for it..
Her strengths are footspeed and defence..wont help her much here. We shall see...
by ashkor87 Well well, theory was right! 2 and 2
by mick1303 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 ))
by
ti-amie mick1303 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 7:14 pm
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.
by 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.
by 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
by
ponchi101 mick1303 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 7:14 pm
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.
by
ponchi101 ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 5:55 am
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".
by
JTContinental ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:25 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 5:55 am
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.
by ponchi101 Roughly on the same park as saying Alexandrova is better than Kostyuk. Which would be a fair and arguable statement.
by
ashkor87 ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:25 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 5:55 am
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
by 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. .
by
ponchi101 ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:47 am
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:25 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 5:55 am
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.
by
ashkor87 ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:21 am
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:47 am
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:25 pm
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'?!
by
ashkor87 JTContinental wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:50 pm
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:25 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 5:55 am
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?
by
ashkor87 ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 12:32 am
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?!
by ashkor87 Let us close this discussion before it gets out of hand!
by 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.
by ashkor87 Last time Rybakina met Swiatek on a comparable court (IW), Ryba won 2 and 2. I am a great believer in h2h being meaningful...
by
Suliso ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:50 am
Last time Rybakina met Swiatek on a comparable court (IW), Ryba won 2 and 2. I am a great believer in h2h being meaningful...
Why not count the last time they met on hard courts then? Or even the same tournament last year?
by
ashkor87 Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 12:35 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 11:50 am
Last time Rybakina met Swiatek on a comparable court (IW), Ryba won 2 and 2. I am a great believer in h2h being meaningful...
Why not count the last time they met on hard courts then? Or even the same tournament last year?
yes, agreed
by
ponchi101 ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:37 am
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:21 am
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:47 am
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'?!
Ok. We are talking about different years, then. I thought you meant 2019, and that the statement was made BEFORE Simona had won the tournament.
And about a player being a FORCE on any circumstance. Look at Ostapenko. Is she a force on clay? Well, she won RG once, but the rest of her record there is truly bad. It is on the same park as saying that Raducanu is a force at the USO. When you look at the whole picture...
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 5:23 am
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 12:32 am
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?!
Just saying that statements like that are valid. If somebody thinks so (and maybe you would), sure, why not? It may be true.
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 5:47 am
Let us close this discussion before it gets out of hand!
Why? Are we going back to the "Let's NOT talk about tennis" mood? It's just a conversation, Ashkor. You post your insane posts, I post my ridiculous ones. And we talk about tennis, and at least I have a good time.
Nothing major.
by ashkor87 Whoah! Alexandrova beat Pegula ..! Didn't expect her to do well on such a slow surface...
by ashkor87 I am relieved Rybakina is out..hope she uses the time to sort herself out
by
JTContinental ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:41 am
JTContinental wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:50 pm
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 12, 2025 11:25 pm
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?
At this point in time, I would say yes, albeit I think both of them are in the "better than average" category. Noskova has the potential to be a top level player, but so far is not living up to the hype.
by JTContinental Ostapenko seems to be having a dialed in week
by
meganfernandez ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 4:23 pm
I am relieved Rybakina is out..hope she uses the time to sort herself out
I imagine it's not going to be an easy fix for her. She's in a severely unhealthy relationship, by all accounts. It should help that he's not allowed at tournaments, but he might still travel with her, who knows.
by ti-amie Friday Order of Play
Center Court
Starts at 7:00 AM
Semifinal
RUS M. Andreeva/RUS D. Shnaider vs ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (3)
Followed By
Semifinal
LAT J. Ostapenko vs POL I. Swiatek (2)
Followed By
Semifinal
RUS E. Alexandrova vs USA A. Anisimova
Grandstand 1
Starts at 7:00 AM
Semifinal
BRA B. Haddad Maia/GER L. Siegemund vs CHN X. Jiang/TPE F. Wu
by
JTContinental meganfernandez wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:36 pm
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 4:23 pm
I am relieved Rybakina is out..hope she uses the time to sort herself out
I imagine it's not going to be an easy fix for her. She's in a severely unhealthy relationship, by all accounts. It should help that he's not allowed at tournaments, but he might still travel with her, who knows.
He did stay in her room in Australia according to thecAthletic article
by ashkor87 Jabeur brought a scimitar to a gun fight.
by
ti-amie ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:09 am
Jabeur brought a scimitar to a gun fight.
by
ashkor87 meganfernandez wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:36 pm
but he might still travel with her,
they shared a hotel room in Melbourne, it seems - and they say he is in Doha too.
by ashkor87 Ostapenko is 4-0 against Swiatek, and playing well. ..ominous!
by
ashkor87 ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:45 am
ashkor87 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:09 am
Jabeur brought a scimitar to a gun fight.
And also why it is risky to hold a big tournament in a place that has no culture of tennis tournaments
by ashkor87 Both semis today are sort of 50-50..that is how semis should be!
by ashkor87 Ostapenko's first serve seems a lot harder and better directed than in the past.. wonder if she has worked on it.. second serve continues to be pathetic, which is a problem, as the old tennis adage goes 'you are only as good as your second serve'
by ashkor87 at the USO Pegula had mentioned that her coach is trying to get her to hit deeper, even at the risk of a UFE. I dont see any sign of it here, she is playing 'Normally'.. all these improvements dont take hold so easily, I guess. Much as I like Alexandrova, I really thought Pegula would beat her.
by ashkor87 Osta makes it. 5-0...I am so happy for her
by jazzyg I reiterate what I posted here a couple years ago, the last time Ostapenko was playing this well. When she plays like this, she looks like the greatest player of all time. Obviously no one can be consistent going for their shots like she does, but it baffles me how poorly she plays most of the time.
Today, she hit four return winners in Swiatek's first two service games, and she was not even going close to the line on all of them. She just hit them cleanly and very hard. I could tell she was in supreme form when she beat Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 a week after losing to her, backing up her destruction of Paolini.
There never has been anything like a player of Ostapenko's ranking and results being 5-0 against a player of Swiatek's ranking and results on either tour. It goes back to Swiatek being a bully on court and falling apart when someone stands up to her, as Ostapenka does every time they play. When she is on form, there is no one I would rather watch play, but it is basically like one tournament a year that she plays like this.
Of course, the other thing about the 5-0 record is they've never played on clay. When they do, Swiatek will win and all of the demons in her head when she sees Ostapenko on the other side of the net will go away that day.
by jazzyg Going back to an earlier discussion in this thread, Halep was terrific on grass her whole career. I posted the numbers a few years ago and then they somehow disappeared. Great athletes do well on grass.
by ashkor87 I didn't want to go there but yes, anyone who knows tennis knows that
by ti-amie Saturday Order of Play
Center Court
Starts at 7:30 AM
Final
ITA S. Errani/ITA J. Paolini (3) vs CHN X. Jiang/TPE F. Wu
Followed By
Final
USA A. Anisimova vs LAT J. Ostapenko
by
ti-amie
Aljona's reaction
by ashkor87 Ostapenko vs Anisimova is a real puzzle...Osta won here a couple years ago but that was a very different Anisimova..they are very much alike, really, slow of foot, very powerful..Ostapenko did what Ostapenko does but Anisimova's depth and ability to move Alexandrova from side to side, was really impressive. Against that, Ostapenko is a grand slam champion, Anisimova isnt.
52% AA, 48% JO ...?
by ashkor87 It wasn't that close, in the end..AA has come of age
by ponchi101 Glad for her because I have always liked her, but it is only one tournament for a player that has been on tour since 2016 (at a very young age, admittedly). I hope you are right, but she needs more than one Doha title to say she has come off age.
And it is her 3rd title overall. Which surprises me.
by JTContinental Anisimova is the first woman since 2007 to beat six top 40 players in a row
by
JTContinental ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2025 6:33 pm
Glad for her because I have always liked her, but it is only one tournament for a player that has been on tour since 2016 (at a very young age, admittedly). I hope you are right, but she needs more than one Doha title to say she has come off age.
And it is her 3rd title overall. Which surprises me.
She did have an extended absence when her dad died and wasn’t serious about tennis when she first came back. She has clearly decided to commit again over the last year and is on the brink of a career-high ranking so I hope she can keep up the momentum
by ponchi101 Totally agree. Her dad's death was extremely hard for her. As I said, I hope she can come back all the way, but I will wait some time. The tour is tough right now. You know, my "parity rules" speech.
by ashkor87 It is reported (by Tignor, of all people!) that a key tactical decision Anisimova made was to get more first serves in, even at the cost of slowing them down , so Jelena could not pulverize her second serve. Shows her growing maturity as a player.
by ponchi101 A strategy developed by Mats Wilander for the 1988 RG final, in which he missed just two first serves so Laconte would not tee off his second.
Smart from Amanda.