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Simona's 2017 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

10K views 149 replies 23 participants last post by  jar11235 
#1 · (Edited)
[1] KERBER, Angelique GER
BYE

MLADENOVIC, Kristina FRA
LUCIC-BARONI, Mirjana CRO

VESNINA, Elena RUS
KASATKINA, Daria RUS

SUÁREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP
[5] MUGURUZA, Garbiñe ESP

[3] CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK
BYE

Qualifier
KONJUH, Ana CRO

(WC) SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS
VINCI, Roberta ITA

MAKAROVA, Ekaterina RUS
[7] RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL

(WC) KONTA, Johanna GBR
QUALIFIER, Qualifier

SEVASTOVA, Anastasija LAT
STOSUR, Samantha AUS

Qualifier
STRYCOVA, Barbora CZE

BYE
[4] HALEP, Simona ROU

[8] KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS
BERTENS, Kiki NED

ZHANG, Shuai CHN
(WC) SIEGEMUND, Laura GER

VANDEWEGHE, CoCo USA
Qualifier

BYE
[2] PLISKOVA, Karolina CZE
Stuttgart draw delivered the above MD table.
As a curiosity, in a bit more than one month, Simona may play for the 3rd time vs Konta.
 
#32 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

I've just seen that the draw has changed again, with Domi out. It makes it look an even bigger opportunity for Simona now, to try to ensure she gets ahead of Domi in the rankings before RG. Good luck, Simona!
Domi isn't the only concern. If she doesn't beat Konta on Friday, Simo drops to #9 in two weeks (#10 if Vesnina wins the tournament).

She played well today, but not perfect. Next round(s) could go either way. If by some miracle she wins Stuttgart, she still drops to #7-8 in two weeks, so let's pray she can remain clutch, focused and positive in the following matches (here, Madrid & Rome).
 
#6 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

I might annoy Nighty by referring to the W-site again :p but is it true what I see on Wikipedia, that Simo teamed up with Rosolska for doubles? I can't decide if this is more or less random than Ostapenko :lol:, but I guess it's not a bad idea. With a BYE in singles, she'll likely get a chance to play the R1 doubles as warm up before her first singles round, which should come in handy. Winning odds are minimal, given that R1 is against seed #2, so I guess we don't need to worry about 2 matches a day afterwards either. ;)
 
#9 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

Simona is scheduled to play doubles tomorrow, third on court 1.
Also Brady v Strycova is tomorrow, so Simona could be playing the winner on Wednesday.
Is it real?!? Tennis Goddess Simona listened to my pray :angel: and plays doubles?!? :bowdown:
Halep / Rosolska - Klepac / Martinez Sanchez (WTA Stuttgart)

(Of course, Monica was better, but with ANY partner Simona can sharpen/fine tune her aggressive play!) :bounce:
 
#10 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

Revised draw:

(1) Kerber v BYE
Mladenovic v Lucic-Baroni
Vesnina v Kasatkina
Suarez Navarro v (Q)Korpatsch

(5)Muguruza v BYE
(Q)Kontaveit v Konjuh
(wc)Sharapova v Vinci
Makarova v (7)Radwanska

(6)Konta v (Q)Osaka
Sevastova v Stosur
(LL)Brady v Strycova
BYE v (4)Halep

(8)Kuznetsova v Bertens
Zhang v (wc)Siegemund
Vandeweghe v (Q)Ostapenko
BYE v (2)Ka.Pliskova

So, if Simona gets through her R2 match there's a 75% chance she'll play someone in her QF who she's already played this year (despite playing so few matches). Fortunately, she's beaten all three of them this year.
 
#18 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

So Simona and Rosolska won their doubles match and I'd say that in the first set bagel we had a glimpse of how well Simona could do in doubles if she really commited to it.
Best wishes for a win tomorrow, Simona!
They recovered in the super-tiebreak from 1-6 and closed the match at 10-8!!

Their opponents were served with some killer strokes coming from Simo in the very first set. Hence the bagel was on the way...

Starting with the 2nd set they wisely changed their strategy and directed most of the balls towards Rosolska so they changed the momentum and managed to tie the score in a blink of an eye.

In the end the Polish raised her level and provided some pretty good net game so the 2nd seeded pair lost 8 balls in a row right after capitalizing a 5 points advantage (6-1) in the STB.
 
#14 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

Well R2 in singles as well.
Can't make much of her full flight from this doubles match, except that her serve is still lacking, especially on the 2nd. Oh boy do I wait for a day when her 2nd serve won't be as attackable.

Regardless, hai Simona, stay healthy and play like we know you can, and you'll achieve great success and your dream of a slam.
 
#15 ·
Feeling positive about tomorrow. That's a very winnable match against Strycova. I know Simo doesn't have a good record in this tournament but the way she played against Kont in Fed cup makes me feel optimistic.
 
#24 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

the best part of the interview:

"I had some conversations with Darren after that match. He said I have to change. He was a little bit upset, to be honest. And then I decided to clear my head, to see what I have done wrong, to see what I have to do better to get stronger and more positive on court."

Is this the turning point for her? Only time will tell...
 
#34 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

I'm still concerned about her difficulty to hold serve (Barbi won 5 games only, but 3 were by breaking Simona). She won't break top players so easily, so she needs to keep working on that serve (or net game - whichever is easier to improve).
Yes, it's her old problem, but I'm not that worried now, as it was just her first match here. Better indicator should be the matches from Fed Cup where she served better. I think yesterdays' doubles match hurt a little her serve rather than help, because with two opponents over the net you have to serve from slightly different position.
My guess is she lost a little her focus after winning 8 games in a row, like she often does, only this time she could afford it, she wasn't in any real danger against Barbs. All in all this was a very good match from Simona and I'm glad Barbs made her win it rather than handing it to Simona. I hope she can play even better next round(s).
 
#29 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

CONGRATS to Simona for this highly technical and tactical victory! :worship: Barbora Strycova is a good all-court player with excellent net skills, movement and smart shot selections. Simona had the physical advantage (1.68m vs 1.64m, 25 years vs. 31 years), the better mental focus (fewer errors), but also a little better point construction. Also, she was able to adjust her tennis according to her opponent. Nevertheless, a match is never straightforward against a good defender who also has creative net skills. (If Strycova was only a little bit bigger, she surely would have a much better career...)

My pre-match inside question was, if Simona would be smart enough to move Strycova and attack the corners, because she had to be kept away from the net. And Simona did it, usually at the end of the otherwise rather long rallies. :)
 
#35 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

CONGRATS to Simona for this highly technical and tactical victory! :worship: Barbora Strycova is a good all-court player with excellent net skills, movement and smart shot selections. Simona had the physical advantage (1.68m vs 1.64m, 25 years vs. 31 years), the better mental focus (fewer errors), but also a little better point construction. Also, she was able to adjust her tennis according to her opponent. Nevertheless, a match is never straightforward against a good defender who also has creative net skills. (If Strycova was only a little bit bigger, she surely would have a much better career...)

My pre-match inside question was, if Simona would be smart enough to move Strycova and attack the corners, because she had to be kept away from the net. And Simona did it, usually at the end of the otherwise rather long rallies. :)
I didn't know Barbs was even shorter than Simo. Well... we know what that means:
- to put it nicely, there is hope for Simo to further improve her net game. :angel:
- to put it roughly, there's no excuse for Simo not to improve her net game. :devil:
 
#41 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

c´mon guys ... this wa one of the best matches played by Simona for a long time :)

just savour it!
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, it was just Barbora and not on her best day. I could say she was the perfect opponent for a first match here. Simona played better against Konta or Kontaveit for example.
She started slow (0-2), then she raised her level to win 8 straight games, after that she understandably relaxed a little, as Barbs posed little danger. As I said, for a first match it was a good one and hopefully she will only get better with each match, she might needed it against better opponents. It's only a P470, but she's in need of points like never before in the past 3 years, because of her slow start of the year.
 
#37 ·
Re: Simona's 2017 Porche Tennis Grand Prix

Simona/Rosolska are playing second on court 1 tomorrow. Let's see how they do: Rosolska has two doubles trophies this season so I'm sure she'd be keen to win and the doubles matches are usually pretty short.
I've just watched the match against Strycova, I thought there was some lovely tennis in there, fine movement, crisp returns, lots of DTL shots on both forehand and backhand, entertaining to watch. Here's hoping for many more matches like this on the clay this year.
 
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