Next week the US Hard Court swing starts! Sabine used her PR to enter Washington, Toronto Q, Cincy? (no public Q list available yet, so still unsure she's in), and US Open.
Really not sure what to expect, hopefully less rusty and gather some ranking points.
First up Washington next week. Not a bad draw....except the big unknown: R1 against a qualifier
BTW, anyone knows whether she eventually needed her PR to enter DC? Last direct acceptance was Abanda (ranked 142), and Sabine's normal ranking was higher at time of entry.
Glad someone beat me to posting her name -- I was going to have to cut and paste:lol: Doesn't look like she has too many results and most of her wins on clay. Hopefully Sabine can ease her way into the tournament.
Also, Sabine is playing doubles with Mladenovic -- they are third up on Court 2 tomorrow.
5th (and last) match on Grandstand 2 tomorrow!
Grammatik. is really a good draw, even a rusty Sabine should be able to win that somehow!
2nd round would be against Sabalenka, for sabine it´s obviously most important to get as many matches as possible, so good decision to play doubles in Washington also.
Doubles match was lost 6-7(tb), 1-6 so no need to be concerned about it screwing up scheduling now. Hopefully it was useful practice.
Anyway, she's playing at what will be Late O Clock for most here: last match on Grandstand 2. In theory, yes, shouldn't be too hard a match, but this is still a very early stage of her comeback given the circumstances/her playing style therefore fingers crossed, wood touched, etc. Don't mean that out of negativity (obviously!) but, how shall we say, supportive caution. Hope it goes well
The issues that are there are obvious and don't really need discussing (especially as we all well know that the only way to deal with them is more matches etc, etc), but her mentality was fantastic; there were nerves and wobbles but she fought through them. Winning two tiebreaks? And the second at the end of a set she'll have felt she 'ought' to have put away already? This I like, this I like very much.
well done, after she wasted too many chances in 1st set and was an early break down in 3rd set!
I couldn´t watch it but stats look good, only got broken twice, too many DFs but rest looks fine!
Nice to see her in the QF here, important points and matches, Dodin next...
well done, after she wasted too many chances in 1st set and was an early break down in 3rd set!
I couldn´t watch it but stats look good, only got broken twice, too many DFs but rest looks fine!
Nice to see her in the QF here, important points and matches, Dodin next...
The first set was frustrating; only one bad game, but couldn't get back in because she couldn't convert any of the numerous break points. But what was then very good was that this didn't knock her back in the second set (i.e. exactly the sort of in-game disappointment that has often wrecked matches for her in recent years). Similarily the shaky start to the third was overcome nicely. As you say, a bit of an issue with service rhythm (hardly surprising; more play is essential to make that more consistent - though that's quite the statement of the blindingly obvious), but when the first serve was in it was good, which is critical; it kept her in the match and allowed her to fight for the win as strongly as she did. Overall
Really good win! Due to all the rain the match was rescheduled to Court 1 and there was no stream But I'd rather have no available stream and have her winning than having a stream with her losing
Struggled with three-setters and tie-breaks all last year; in two days has just won a) a two set match with two tie-breaks b) a three-setter from behind
Match to-day is supposedly the third on Grandstand 2. Hope it goes well, but wrt this tournament no matter...
Lost 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(tb) - strange match; very tight overall except for much of the first set (i.e. the one she won) in which she was two breaks down and struggling to compete early on. And as you can tell from that, her play varied throughout (as did Dodin's). But not all in a negative way, not at all. Once again her attitude was fantastic; its sad that she lost but its hard not to be pleased with the fight she put up. If she can maintain this...
One worry is that she had a MTO for her shoulder halfway through the second set; she played on after and played a decent third set, so fingers crossed. Still, it's probably for the best that she has a week before she's due to play again. That (hopefully minor) concern aside, this has been a really encouraging tournament for her.
Anyway, that's +30pts (technically +60 because last year's rolled off a week before the tournament) plus the time on court (useful time as well; tight matches, long matches), plus the psychological boost of reaching another QF. All of which right now is extremely welcome. Her next booked tournament is not the qualies at Toronto - she did too well in Washington for that to work out logistically and has pulled out - but the qualies at Cincy. Almost certainly for the best; she won't be used to the intensity of the past few days yet and it would not be good for her to overdo things.
Shame that she could not win this tight match, good fight back in 1st set (tons of DF of Dodin helped there also) but not enough in the end but she did better than expected this week and she hopefully can win some matches then in Cinci also!
MTO is nothing to worry about yet IMO, Sabine is usually very careful when it comes to injuries, so it´s a good sign that she played until the end but obviously the right decision to skip Toronto now, Sabine´s body is not strong enough for that.
It's sad to see her losing in the end, but she really fought hard and it was so so close. So many positives to take from this tournament..3 close matches in which she never gave up and showed some real mental strength (something that was really lacking last year). She kept her nerves in important moments and in the end it was only a couple of points difference. Of course a lot of improvements are still needed, but it's only her 3rd tournament. Never did I expect the great progress she's made in such a short time after her comeback.
What worries me a bit is the MTO for her shoulder halfway 2nd set. Before the MTO she was already stretching all the time before service games.. I think she said to the trainer that her shoulder/neck area felt tense. Her serve speed was heavily reduced 2nd half of 2nd set and she did take painkillers. Was afraid she wouldn't finish the match, but 3rd set she was serving full speed again..prob painkillers kicked in. She is not always forthcoming about status of injuries...really hope it was not too serious. At least she has a week now to get some treatment and give the shoulder some rest.
Wise decision to withdraw from Toronto Q...not only because of scheduling conflicts (funny how we first thought it would be doubles that might get in the way), but she played 3 tight matches under gruelling conditions...her body needs time to recover since she hasn't competed for so long. Hopefully she can continue her progress in Cincy!