Talk About Tennis 2.0

Well... Linette and Klepac won their first doubles match - in a 'match tiebreak', naturally (that was their first round doubles match - 2 days before the Final)... they did their on-court interview, in which it was mentioned that they would go rest for a bit, then return to the court for their second doubles match of the evening (which is already the Quarterfinal, as the draw is small)...

Then, about 15-20 minutes after they left the court, there was an announcement that their Quarterfinal doubles match is postponed until tomorrow at 1:30pm.
That makes sense, as, rather than have Linette play 2 long matches yesterday, then 3 more matches today (1 singles, 2 doubles), it's better for her to play 1 singles and 1 doubles today, and potentially 2 doubles tomorrow.

Day 9 Order of Play

Credit One Stadium

Starts at 11:00 AM

UPCOMING
Semifinal
USA C. DOLEHIDE/CHN S. ZHANG (1) vs CZE L. HRADECKA/IND S. MIRZA
UPCOMING
Semifinal
RUS E. ALEXANDROVA vs SUI B. BENCIC (10)
UPCOMING
Semifinal
USA A. ANISIMOVA (15) vs TUN O. JABEUR (4)
FOLLOWED BY
Semifinal
TBD vs SUI B. BENCIC/UKR A. KALININA

Althea Gibson Court

Starts at 01:30 PM

UPCOMING
Quarterfinal
GER V. HEISEN/CHN Y. XU vs SLO A. KLEPAC/POL M. LINETTE (4)

Nice win for Bencic. She has been playing well the last few weeks (SF in Miami).

And I thought that on a slow surface Paula would have had a bit of an advantage. I say she has a good chance against Alexandrova.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:14 pm I say she has a good chance against Alexandrova.

Right you are.

Anisimova played really well in the 1st set, while Jabeur did not play well, and was frustrated - 6-2 Anisimova.
The 2nd set was almost the exact opposite - Jabeur couldn't miss, while Anisimova couldn't hit a shot. After about 3 games, Anisimova pretty much threw in the towel for the set - 6-1 Jabeur.
Starting the 3rd now...

Jabeur 6-4 in the 3rd.
The 5th game of the 3rd set was key... Anisimova was up a break and it was 0-40 on Jabeur’s serve. Jabeur came back to hold, then broke Anisimova at love in the next game, as Anisimova was listless - not running for shots, etc.
Then in the 7th game, Anisimova woke up, played well, and broke back to go up a break again.
Anisimova has a tendency to get down on herself and give up very easily... but then sometimes she rebounds from that at unexpected moments.
Jabeur then broke right back to even the set at 4... It was looking like the never-ending break fest 3rd set of Leylah vs. Linette the other day...
Jabeur then held, then broke as Anisimova melted away again in that final game.

Jabeur-Bencic. Two easy going and likeable players. Guess the tournament can't ask for more...

Day 9 Order of Play

Credit One Stadium
Starts at 11:00 AM

Final
CZE L. HRADECKA/IND S. MIRZA vs SLO A. KLEPAC/POL M. LINETTE (4)
NOT BEFORE 1:30 PM
Final
TUN O. JABEUR (4) vs SUI B. BENCIC (10)

Bencic has really improved her serve. She used to toss too close to her body, leaving her cramped now it is slightly away, gives her room to hit it .and, I am sure, COVID took a long time for her to recover from ..

This green clay is always slippery, even more than red - Jabeur will do very well here.. she stays low, maintains her balance, and her drop shots can be lethal here.. I love Bencic, but I expect Jabeur to beat her here..

I still say that it's significantly more grey than it is green...

And, yes, it is a slippery surface to play on. That's what I dislike most about it - even more than the bad bounces. Unless it's watered regularly (and by regularly, I mean like at least once an hour during a sunny day), it gets quite slippery when it dries, and it feels like playing on a layer of ice.
But if you put too much water on it, it becomes too sticky, and you can trip in it.
Watering it just the right amount, and as often as needed is kind of an art.

Red clay (which is actually more orange than red) is quite different from the grey clay.

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:23 am This green clay is always slippery, even more than red - Jabeur will do very well here.. she stays low, maintains her balance, and her drop shots can be lethal here.. I love Bencic, but I expect Jabeur to beat her here..

I always felt that Har-Tru is an underrated surface. Sure, it can get very slippery when it dries up, but a well-kept court can be fair to all styles. You can serve and volley because the volleys will have penetration, and you can play from the back also. Water it more, and it is slow, a bit less and it is fast.
Kyrgios would hate it. It is the most changing of all surfaces.

Hooray BB

and OJ a class act in defeat

Bencic was the better player today and fully deserved the victory.

As much as I like Jabeur, I find she gets down on herself too easily and too quickly - and that hurts her. I don't mind the throwing the racquet in anger - that can act as motivation to improve... but many times today, she threw up her hands in disgust with herself, and that's not a productive mindset to have - especially when it's repeated many times, as today.