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stromatolite · Apr 10th, 2012, 01:01 PM

The "good" news is that, as a team, they go in as clear underdogs, so can play with nothing to lose. That should help Jarka in particular, and if she can relax a bit you never know what she might pull off. The bad news is that, as world # 5, Sam can't claim to be the underdog in her matches, even though she lost her most recent matches against Sabine and Julia. She'll be under a lot of pressure, especially since she knows that if she loses just 1 of her singles matches the team's chances will be as good as shot to pieces. Hope she's up to it

stromatolite · Apr 11th, 2012, 06:08 AM

Apparently Sabine is unavailable for the Stuttgart tie due to her injury. Sad for her, I hope she recovers quickly. I don't think it necessarily makes things any easier for our girls, except that they now know that it's more or less a sure thing that Julia and Angie will play singles, and so can start preparing for that.

AUSBOY · Apr 11th, 2012, 08:12 AM

So Lisicki is out but do we know if Petkovic is too yet?? I dont think its confirmed.
They still got Goerges, Kerber, Barthel & Barrois. I'm starting to feel more confident, not sure how some of these local girls will cope with the pressure of the home crowd!

stromatolite · Apr 11th, 2012, 08:21 AM

I'm not too worried about Petkovic. Even if she's in the team I can't imagine she will play without any match practice when they have two other top 20 players and the #37 at their disposal, all of them in great form. Still, if the German threads are anything to go by the German fans are a bit nervous about this tie, so hopefully the German players will be as well.

Update: I just realized that Julia and Angie have a collective singles W-L of 3-7

louloubelle · Apr 12th, 2012, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AUSBOY

So Lisicki is out but do we know if Petkovic is too yet?? I dont think its confirmed.
They still got Goerges, Kerber, Barthel & Barrois. I'm starting to feel more confident, not sure how some of these local girls will cope with the pressure of the home crowd!

Totally agree. This is a big tie for them with their new status as a power in women's tennis and the German crowd will have pretty high expectations. Remember their team used to be Huber and Graf

The German gals have not had sustained period of success unlike Sam. Kerber, Barthel and even Goerges have only played higher level tennis within the last year. Now its the time for them to be the hunted and have the pressure and without that experience of constantly backing up each week in a pressure environment may count against them!

Territory · Apr 12th, 2012, 01:15 PM

Apparently A-Rod tweeted that she was disappointed not to be picked. So she must have been available to play.

I think it's a shithouse decision that she's been overlooked.

Daniel. · Apr 12th, 2012, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Territory

Apparently A-Rod tweeted that she was disappointed not to be picked. So she must have been available to play.

I think it's a shithouse decision that she's been overlooked.

Yes. I hope we all don't have to suffer the consequences again for Taylor's bad judgement. Lets stay positive though. Sam is in good form and lets look at Jarka as 'due for a big win'. We can do it guys!

AUSBOY · Apr 16th, 2012, 02:24 AM

Yeah ridiculous A-Rod is left out. Olivia has done nothing to warrant selection in such a crucial tie over A-Rod, when A-Rod has already won a WTA doubles title and had some good wins this year. All Olivia has done is beat an out of form Arvidsson.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1226325281873

So German team is Petkovic, Goerges, Kerber and Barrois. Petkovic will be rusty, Goerges isn't performing so well and is clearly feeling the pressure this year. Kerber on the other hand has been playing fantastically. Kerber vs Stosur will be the key. If Stosur can win this, then Australia has a chance as Stosur should beat Petkovic or Goerges. Hopefully Jarka can play a great match and sneak a win, she has the big game to be able to do so if she can just keep her error count down.

petey_pan · Apr 16th, 2012, 03:33 AM

I have a terrible feeling it's going to come down to the doubles.... which I'd favour us to win with Rodionova

stromatolite · Apr 16th, 2012, 06:12 AM

I think people (including Anastasia) need to give Dave and Nicole a bit more credit than they currently are for being professionals who take these selection decisions very seriously. It's important to look at the context to make sense of the Aussie line-up for this tie. Sam and Casey have been playing together this year, presumably with an eye on an Olympic medal. After a terrible start they did pretty well together at IW. Although Anastasia's current doubles ranking is higher, and she's been playing more lately than Sam and Casey, she's not that good a doubles player to make it obviously worth breaking up that team for this tie. In fact, over their whole careers, Sam and Casey are both more impressive doubles players than she is.

Territory · Apr 16th, 2012, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stromatolite

I think people (including Anastasia) need to give Dave and Nicole a bit more credit than they currently are for being professionals who take these selection decisions very seriously. It's important to look at the context to make sense of the Aussie line-up for this tie. Sam and Casey have been playing together this year, presumably with an eye on an Olympic medal. After a terrible start they did pretty well together at IW. Although Anastasia's current doubles ranking is higher, and she's been playing more lately than Sam and Casey, she's not that good a doubles player to make it obviously worth breaking up that team for this tie. In fact, over their whole careers, Sam and Casey are both more impressive doubles players than she is.

No-one's questioning whether Sam or Casey should be in the team. What I and others are saying is that out of Liv and Nastya, Nastya has a lot more to offer and should have been included. Nastya is our #3 in singles and #1 in doubles. Liv is our #5 in singles (just) and #12 in doubles. I know rankings are just one measure, but it's one of many that can be applied that demonstrate that Nastya is a much better choice...

stromatolite · Apr 16th, 2012, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Territory

No-one's questioning whether Sam or Casey should be in the team. What I and others are saying is that out of Liv and Nastya, Nastya has a lot more to offer and should have been included. Nastya is our #3 in singles and #1 in doubles. Liv is our #5 in singles (just) and #12 in doubles. I know rankings are just one measure, but it's one of many that can be applied that demonstrate that Nastya is a much better choice...

I know the arguments for including Nastya, all I'm saying is that there are other arguments, and that when all's said and done nobody except Sam and (maybe) Jarka have any definite claim to be included. The main arguments for including Nastya (that she's a better player in both singles and doubles than Liv) lose a lot of their impact if you don't expect her to play a live rubber. In that case I can imagine that the selectors decided to give Liv the nod. With three of our top players nearing their 30s she's likely to be a key player in the not-too-distant future, so it's not a bad idea to start to ease her into the team already.

GeeTee · Apr 16th, 2012, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petey_pan

I have a terrible feeling it's going to come down to the doubles.... which I'd favour us to win with Rodionova

This.

I'm just glad we're not outright favourites. We usually lose badly when that's the case..

Invisible Fan · Apr 18th, 2012, 07:02 PM

Fox Sports is showing Highlights of day 1 and day 2 live according to my tv guide.

louloubelle · Apr 18th, 2012, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stromatolite

I know the arguments for including Nastya, all I'm saying is that there are other arguments, and that when all's said and done nobody except Sam and (maybe) Jarka have any definite claim to be included. The main arguments for including Nastya (that she's a better player in both singles and doubles than Liv) lose a lot of their impact if you don't expect her to play a live rubber. In that case I can imagine that the selectors decided to give Liv the nod. With three of our top players nearing their 30s she's likely to be a key player in the not-too-distant future, so it's not a bad idea to start to ease her into the team already.

I agree. The reality is that Australia has quite a 'flaky' list of players too choose from and the sooner they get some time and matches into some young (but worthy) players the better off we'll be in team competitions in the next couple of years. Nastya, wouldve been handy, but she's not the difference between us winning and losing. Jarmila Gadjosova step forward!