Petra should play Niculescu in the 2nd and Halep in the 3rd, but I would recommend to better go to London and prepare for Wimby.
These two passive players would probably make her extra tired and who knows, what could actually happen to her hand?
An idiotic answer, really. Playing two tournaments before the GS is not smart at all. Not speaking about the draw, this time very unfriendly, since she would have to play two passive players who prefer stay in a rally and heavily depend on opponents errors (just like Niculescu against Mirjana today). To be successful, Petra should skip Eastbourne.
I don't know what Petra will decide to do. But I would trust her to make the right decision based on how she is feeling physically right now. So whether she plays or doesn't play.... I will assume that was the correct decision for her.
:spit:
Thanks God the OP in not Petra's manager... then he would advice Petra to skip Wimbledon as well if the draw out there would make her face to many "passive" players and the weather will be "unfriendly" otherwise that would be a double jeopardy for her hand
Absolutely disagree. Show me some examples of GS winners spending two weeks before the slam playing preparing tournaments. Not so much often to see, really. And not smart at all either. Not speaking about the fact, that I really didnt mention weather as some factor why to withdraw. Weather hasnt been an issue for her since 2015, from what I know.
Yes, thats the answer to all those Seychelles and Shvedbarilescu members who do not understand at all what it means to create an intelligent and reasonable schedule. Petra might have done exactly what I though to be the best decision just before the Wimbledon.
I guess the best solution to this thread is that to personally ask and get an answer directly from Petra herself, what is her objective to play Eastbourne or whether she is fit or wishes to play, instead of asking anyone of us from the forum who are just her fans and doesn't really have much impact of her scheduling, unless she knows that there will be tons of fans looking forward to her at a certain event.:shrug:
Of course, skipping Eastbourne looks like the most sensible decision, but Petra is the person to decide so. Is this a desperate trying to excuse her when if she eventually withdraws from Eastbourne? :lol:
... certainly not, this is a serious discussion about what to do if you really want to lift your 3rd GS trophy. Nothing else. And the chance is definitely there so throwing it away in Eastbourne would be just...
i never loved the idea of petra playing the week before a major...i def think she should withdraw since she won in Birmingham...Nicolescu has given her a lot of shit in the past...no need to play someone who's just gonna tire the living daylight out of her hands the week before Wimbledon
PK asked for a WC, she wants to play.
Girl was almost dead six months ago, now she's eager to get ranking points and go back to the top where she belongs.
Let her win Birmingham, Eastbourne, Wimbledon, everything...
Perhaps she feels that she still needs more match play. She maybe doesn't expect to go far in the draw but would like a couple more matches before Wimbledon. I don't think she is one for overplaying so I'm sure she knows what she is doing.
Its going to be a long list of players who withdraw of retire. Already kasatkina, Konjuh, Putintseva, Bellis, probably a few others.
I dont see the purpose of 2 weeks of tournaments in a row before her best major, but she's a veteran, she has an idea of how to prepare
I think you should let Petra, who is not just a crazy tennis fan on an internet forum but an actual professional tennis player, to decide her schedule.
Only a non-informed Person can write such a non-sense after what Petra did to Simona in Wuhan, where Simona was only an observer while being almost double-bageled. So much about this passive pusher. Not even worth to play against.
The thing is, Petra has yet to play someone of the standing and caliber of Simona on her way back. Mladenovic was the closest to that and you could sense the tension when she had to close it out.
It might not be bad for her to go and play a few rounds, face Halep, prove to herself she can hang with her, win or lose, then withdraw.
Does she "need" to? No. But, given that she's been robbed of the sport she loves for the past six months, it's easy to see why she might want to. If she's healthy and wants to play then why not play? It's not as though she's suffering from numerous minor injuries picked up over the course of the season and needs to rest before Wimbledon. As long as her hand's bearing up fine then physically she'll probably benefit from a bit more match play.
If she wants to add some more preWimby matches than she should play.
If she does not need them or feel tired now she should skip Eastbourne.
She definitely should not and I'm sure she will not make her decisions based on type of players in her draw.