Some of the people claiming Franny would beat Petra on clay. Yes, it is indoor and all but whatever.
Petra was very sloppy at the beginning of the match. Started clicking together, not going for soo much and played really well. Definitely not as streaky as her Fed Cup matches and her ROS seems to have definitely improved.
Good performance by Petra, probably not any better than I would have expected but certainly not any worse either. She looks comfortable on this fast indoor clay surface and she is definately the player to beat this week. Fran didn't play terribly well and really tried to match Petra for aggressiveness but whereas going for big winners early in the point is Petra's usual game and it is what works for her, it is not what Fran is about and she would probably have done better, although I very much doubt she would have won, if she played more within herself.
Basically it was a pretty one-sided match and while it showed Petra to be in good form she wasn't challenged and it takes two players playing well to make an interesting entertaining contest. The Fed Cup match last week was much better.
Good performance by Petra, probably not any better than I would have expected but certainly not any worse either. She looks comfortable on this fast indoor clay surface and she is definately the player to beat this week. Fran didn't play terribly well and really tried to match Petra for aggressiveness but whereas going for big winners early in the point is Petra's usual game and it is what works for her, it is not what Fran is about and she would probably have done better, although I very much doubt she would have won, if she played more within herself.
Basically it was a pretty one-sided match and while it showed Petra to be in good form she wasn't challenged and it takes two players playing well to make an interesting entertaining contest. The Fed Cup match last week was much better.
Good overall analysis (though I'm not sure if I'm ready to call Petra "the one to beat" as you did). :lol:
As far as the bolded/Fed Cup part, Fran had already blew her load in the Fed Cup match, as some of us expected, last week.
You know she's only good for so many matches in a season.
And let's be honest, she served, way over her head when they played in Fed Cup, and that's why it all came back to haunt her in the tiebreak. Too much pressure to get them in, and get them in good against a locked in Kvitty! The surface didn't assist Frannie's serve and ground strokes today, like it did in Ostrava last week either.
I just think she had no answers today. Petra would of had to play poorly for her to win.
The ease of her victory is surprising only if ye got caught up in the hype of reading too much into Kvitty's less than stellar performance in 2012. Besides, Schiavo has already reverted back to her pre-slam-win "not difficult to beat" status.
I would be shocked, if Petra lost. She had more than three days for preparation plus Germany is nextdoor so no jet-leg/fatigue/asthma issues possible plus it's a fast indoor surface where she excels.
Some great serves/aces and returns. Needs to work on her slices though, as she herself admitted on Sunday.