I am only prepared to vote on the fact that this will be a very tough match. I would say 50/50. Sam is obviously the underdog here.. for now anyway. Halep beat Bacsinzsky very impressively, while Sam's run was easier.
this is such a toss up w/ both players finally coming back into some good form
both are good clay court players and move well on the surface...Halep is obviously the better mover though and Sam has a bit more firepower off the serve and FH
I think it'll come down to how well Sam is serving...if she can protect her 1st serve and not get so predictable on the 2nd serve...she could win the match
I'll give the slight edge to Stosur and say she wins it in 3 sets
We know what to expect from Sam good and bad. Depends on Simona.....if she can frustrate Sam and her fh is working. She should win. But Sam has big game and when it works, she is very hard to beat. I am supposed to meet some old coworkers that I havent seen in months and I really want to come up with a good excuse so I can stay and watch the match
Neither of the girls are at their best.
Though, in this tournament they're getting better. I would give the edge to Simona, but Samantha has her chances too.
I think Sam needs more the 1st set in order to win.
Assuming nobody would choke...
Sam is certainly better on service motion (imho she has one of the best, if not the best, second service on tour).
She has an effective FH as well as a better net-play. She will not miss the opportunity to hunt Simona's second services.
Simona's strategy will be simple: kicking Sam's BH (pushing her in the left corner) then trying to close the points with BHDTLs, CCFHs or inside-in FHs, or provoking Sam's errors coming from her BHs (Sam's liability).
If Simona will be mentally fit and provide a decent first service percentage she won't lose the match.
I think Halep's "strategy" will be this:
1.) testing what Sam is capable of now
2.) if she's too tired or something, win the match with several easier tricks
3.) if she plays too well, ask for Darren :lol:
4.) Darren would tell her some straightforward advice
5.) which can or cannot be enough, depending on how much time left
Peak Sam is waaaaay better on clay than Halep, but peak Sam shows up rarely these days. I think Simona will make less errors and therefore win the match.
In order to win Sam will have to force as much winners as she can, thus she shall use her weapon FH.
In the same time Simona will try to demolish Sam's BH, with Sam either running more to the left in order to hit a winning FH, thus exposing her entire left side to Simona's killer BHDTL, or try to push Simona more to her FH side with deep balls to neutralize Simonas angles drawing. It will be a battle of the BHDTL, with plenty of winners. Tig match was easy for Sam, as she was the better mover and the one having a BHDTL in the repertoire. Looked like Tig did not had such a weapon. Even if Sam was exposed plenty of times to a DTL hit, Tig never used the BH for it, even if she was in position she preferred the CC (with some winners).
Thus, I see much more of a difficult match for Sam than for Simona if none of the girls flopp. Due to tactics superiority of Simona-Darren duo, I chose Simona in 2 tight sets.
Pome will most likely be in the final. And if it's Sam who'll join her... well, we all how that's going to end. IMO it all hangs on this semi-final. If Sam ends up on the winning end, then she'll win the whole thing. If it's Halep who will make it to the final, she will be no match for Pome's fighting spirit. Halep has less fighting spirt than a corpse. After her QF march with Begu, she said that at 0-3 in the 2nd she knew it was going to end 0-6. OMG, it's surreal how bad this girl sucks at having the mindset of a campion.
Pome has a good fighting spirit but clearly Sori is a good mach-up for her, hence the h2h. Plus that clearly the serve left Sori down in the middle of the second set (the price to pay when you come back from shoulder injury). The conditions from day to day vary so much, that no victory comes for certain, especially in WTA. I can see Chirico winning today as much as I can see Pome doing it.
As I said, the best tactical combo left in the tournament is Simona/Darren. Simona's meltdowns usually, if healthy, come due to bad tactics and the impossibility/mental lock to find a solution. The way to win against Simona is to start painting the lines and hit winners from any position.
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