WTA 1000 Dubai 2/19 - 2/27 2023

[Deuce]

Maybe Sabalenka hasn't overcome her inconsistency problems after all, huh?...
She was basically flawless in the 1st set, winning it at love. She played very well in the 2nd set, as well - but she was challenged and matched by Krejcikova this time. And Krejcikova prevailed.
And then Sabalenka was virtually invisible in the 3rd set.

It appears that Sabalenka couldn't handle the abrupt change in the dynamic of the match. Maybe she was already half in the locker room, convinced she would win, and couldn't get to the proper mindset to compete after that - perhaps thinking too much that she just blew it before the match was over, and when she still had a chance to win. This is a lack of maturity/experience, I feel.

All credit to Krejcikova. There aren't many players who would still believe they could beat a powerful player like Sabalenka after a 0-6 1st set drubbing.
Krejcokova's victory in this match can best be described as 'crafty'. It was like a seasoned pro playing against a junior psychologically.
Sabalenka has the physical talent to be a dominant player for a long time. But she will have to vastly improve her fragile mental state if she is going to be considered one of the best players of her era.

[ti-amie]

I think Sabalenka and Sakkari are the biggest headcases on the WTA tour. Either can easily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Owendonovan]

Makes me wonder about the appearance fees some of these top ranked players get. Do they get it for showing up and dropping out after the first or second round? Are those fees based on an expected upward movement through the draws or just for showing up and staying on the schedule through the beginning of the tournament?

[Deuce]

Makes me wonder about the appearance fees some of these top ranked players get. Do they get it for showing up and dropping out after the first or second round? Are those fees based on an expected upward movement through the draws or just for showing up and staying on the schedule through the beginning of the tournament?

I would think that it's almost always based on the player officially entering the tournament only. Because appearance fees obviously exist as a means of selling tickets based on a player's SUPPOSED participation in the tournament. The players who would get the appearance fees are obviously the top players, and most tickets are sold well in advance, so... 2+2=4.

There are too many examples of players pulling out of tournaments at the last minute - i.e. AFTER most of the tickets are sold to people wanting to see that player play - or 'surprisingly' losing in their first match of the tournament - this happens too often to think it's a mere co-incidence every time. I have no doubt that the tournament organizers are complicit much of the time - as in: the player tells the tournament 2 weeks before that he/she will not be playing the tournament (or maybe never had any intention of playing it), and the tournament director responds that if the player wants to collect the agreed upon appearance fee, the player must agree to only announce publicly that he/she will not be playing the tournament on the day before the tournament starts, to allow for tickets to be sold to the unsuspecting fans wanting to see that player play.

Business is a very dirty business.

[Owendonovan]

Makes me wonder about the appearance fees some of these top ranked players get. Do they get it for showing up and dropping out after the first or second round? Are those fees based on an expected upward movement through the draws or just for showing up and staying on the schedule through the beginning of the tournament?

I would think that it's almost always based on the player officially entering the tournament only. Because appearance fees obviously exist as a means of selling tickets based on a player's SUPPOSED participation in the tournament. The players who would get the appearance fees are obviously the top players, and most tickets are sold well in advance, so... 2+2=4.

There are too many examples of players pulling out of tournaments at the last minute - i.e. AFTER most of the tickets are sold to people wanting to see that player play - this happens too often to think it's a mere co-incidence every time. I have no doubt that the tournament organizers are complicit much of the time - as in: the player tells the tournament 2 weeks before that he/she will not be playing the tournament, and the tournament director responds that if the player wants to collect the agreed upon appearance fee, the player must agree to only announce publicly that he/she will not be playing the tournament on the day before the tournament starts, to allow for tickets to be sold to the unsuspecting fans wanting to see that player play.

Business is a very dirty business.

So hard to find moral high ground in sports, unfortunately.

[ashkor87]

Krejcikova vs Sabalenka - could see only highlights (which dont tell you much) but in the second set tiebreaker, Krejcikova came to the net and made a wonderful touch volley.. I wonder if that is the story? or just the usual brain-fade from Sabalenka?
Krejcikova did beat Swiatek with her forward approach, can she do it again? fascinating ..!

[Suliso]

H2H in all possible remaining matches

Swiatek vs Gauff 5:0
Pegula vs Krejcikova 1:0

Swiatek vs Pegula 5:2
Swiatek vs Krejcikova 2:1
Pegula vs Gauff 1:0
Gauff vs Krejcikova 0:1

[Suliso]

I had a chance to watch a full match between Iga and Coco. It started as usual with regular game from Swiatek and plenty of mistakes from Gauff resulting in Iga serving at 5-2. Then unexpectedly a weaker patch from Iga and a bit better from Gauff. She got as close as Iga serving at 5-4, 40-40. Needed 5 set points to close it out. Iga then accelerated to a double break 4-0 advantage and it seemed all over and maybe a bagel coming. Strong serving gave Coco the following game and then Iga gifted one service game with 2 double faults and easy errors. Clamped down immediately to win the last two games.

Coco needs a lot of improvement to challenge elite players seriously. One aspect of the game where she is really good already is net play. Forehand continuously breaks down though and second serve sometimes begs to be hit.

[ashkor87]

Thanks...very useful summary

[ponchi101]

I have spoken about Coco being young, but by now, Suliso's point that she will turn 19 soon starts to gain some weight. Plenty of players have won big before 19.
Since obviously I have not seen her play in a while (lack of coverage), I can only assess by what the people here say. And the same two issues remain constant: the FH, and the 2nd serve. So, if the crowd here sees that, and there is no improvement, I wonder if the stroke CAN be improved. Can it be fixed? If we can see that, her coaches certainly can too.
Edberg was never able to improve his FH (that weird continental grip). Muguruza's FH volley never got better. Evert's BH volley was never a solid shot. So maybe, this is one of those cases.

[Suliso]

15th WTA level final for Swiatek and 9th for Krejcikova. Their final records are 12-2 and 5-3.

Krejcikova won the last time they met. I think it will be a serious fight this time as well.

[meganfernandez]

15th WTA level final for Swiatek and 9th for Krejcikova. Their final records are 12-2 and 5-3.

Krejcikova won the last time they met. I think it will be a serious fight this time as well.

I hope this match is as good as Ostrava last fall, but that was indoors. I do think Krejcikova believes she can beat Iga, which is half the battle.

[ponchi101]

Well, she CAN beat Iga. She has beaten her once, and her H2H is 2-1 Iga, which are too few matches to make any sort of pattern.
Krejcikova was out for a while, but maybe it was the after C19 effects. She has been playing well of late. it could be a very good final (let's hope we don't get Doha part II).

[ti-amie]

I'm not a big fan of Krejcikova (her antics) but I give her credit for going out there and trying to win her matches. I could be wrong but off the top of my head I don't remember her ducking out/avoiding anyone recently.

[ti-amie]

Day 9 Order of Play

Centre Court
Starts at 05:00 PM

Final
TPE H. CHAN/TPE L. CHAN vs RUS V. KUDERMETOVA/RUS L. SAMSONOVA
UPCOMING
Final
POL I. SWIATEK (1) vs CZE B. KREJCIKOVA