Alexandra is a former Top 10 junior who's been left in the dust as her contemporaries, Victoria, Caroline, Aga and Agnes have made their names on the WTA tour.
Now, Alexandra seems to want to make her own noise. She just lost out on winning her 2nd (and by far biggest) title at the 75K hardcourt in Monzon. She is now within the Top 250 and warrants her own cheering thread!
Not sure why dubs in Miami and a Tuesday (at the earliest) start in the ITF would be mutually exclusive. Hopefully they do well as a team, but I really don't see them lasting past the quarters. Good to see them getting into Fed Cup spirit early on, though
I agree they don't seem to have much chance (though one can only hope).
But isn't it more fair-play of Alex to let the organizers know in advance, rather than calling last minute to say she can't, because she actually did make it to the 2nd round in doubles here (which I think will be on Tuesday only).
Also, I'm not familiar with all formalities in these tournaments, but maybe there are even some deadlines and fees to pay to confirm your participation, and that deadline might have been today. I don't know...
Anyway, I do agree that either way she's taking a certain risk, sacrificing probably some points and money, for an experiment which might or might not pay off on the long run. Because I do wish them all success. They're both among my favorite tennis players, so I couldn't be happier if this works out for them.
Also, I'm not familiar with all formalities in these tournaments, but maybe there are even some deadlines and fees to pay to confirm your participation, and that deadline might have been today. I don't know...
There are such fees and deadlines (as described in the factsheet). The only thing, Alex will now have to pay a fine to the ITF because of her late withdrawal
Can't remember if it's her first LWM this year or not, but it's not really important since the fine isn't a big deal. Probably around the same amount as they give any player that attends that pro-am event there :lol:
No surprises in doubles unfortunately
Miami Open
WD, 1st Round
I'm sure it was good practice for both, but not so sure about the paycheck for Alex.
I mean, how much can you get for a loss in R1, in doubles, at a PM? Can that compensate the cancellation fee and what she might have won in a couple of rounds in Osprey?
I was counting on them winning at least R1 when I said it makes sense Alex withdrew from Osprey. Is there any video of their game, highlights or even any kind of extract, so we can get an idea how they work together on the field?
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And anyone knows what Alex is planning next in singles, and if they said anything anything about teaming up together in a future tournament?
I was watching live score on that match, and I had the feeling there were quite some points that took a bit of time, so I was imagining some long volleys... perhaps not all missed.
If those are the money, then I guess it was worth the risk... making in 1 match more than anything less than winning the final in a 50k, after a tiring long week of daily matches perhaps. I wonder what the withdrawal penalty was, if you happen to know that too?
Well, good for her then and best of luck in the coming tournaments (singles & doubles)!
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PS: Seems a really tough sport if you only get so little money in ITF competitions... I mean, if you come from far, it's like you need to win a couple of rounds to pay back your flight tickets, another round to pay back your hotel, the semi to pay the expenses of whoever is accompaning you (coach, partner, child, etc), and then only winning the Final would actually get you some decent profit. And then there's taxes to pay on all that. :|
Definitely tough to get a good ranking. Most of the players go to ITF's so so they can get close to the top 100 and play in regular WTA events and qualifiers. That's why having more ITF's in Romania is a very good thing since a lot of the players trying to move up the ranks can at least do it from close to home for a few months. There was an interview with Patricia Tig last year where she talked about her long season and moving up from 10k's.
If she isn't on Centre or court 2 then no streaming sadly. But Alex is one of the few players I am going to scope out amd watch no matter what! Her and Vekic and Jelena were the 3 that no matter what I'm watching their matches. Tons of pics to come granted they are only cell phone pictures from my Galaxy Note 3, but they're more of a fans perspective instead of super HD nice camera quality so maybe some people like that just as much