[Blu€]

Originally Posted by terjw

I wonder what the voting in GM woud have been if they were required to actually put up a sum of money that would hurt them if they lost. Would they be so confident? And its funny that they will argue on end that they are the best judges and the true experts at predictions and that the bookies are fools. Very easy to talk. But the people who set the odds are there to make money as their living and they lose money if they get it wrong.

I think you guys are taking too seriously people in GM, it was clearly a "troll" poll. Not even the biggest Caro hater really believed she would lose, some posters just like to troll and seek attention.


Back to Sorana, well she's not doing great though not too bad. Reached the SF at Pattaya but got bageled by Kirilenko. This last week she played FedCup, she beat Peer and lost against Aga. She's a known ballbasher so she struggles against good defenders (Kirilenko, Aga), Caro should win unless Sori is having that day of the year where she plays outstanding.

[terjw]

Originally Posted by Chrissie-fan

I agree, and I don't even blame the players themselves. It's professional sports with huge sums of money and worldwide fame at stake, so players are tempted to use anything that they think might give them an edge and they are likely to bend the rules to their advantage if they can get away with it. But the powers that be in the game should be more strict. There's really no point in having a set of rules when in reality everyone can do whatever they want. I don't mean that they should be dictatorial. Giving for example someone a warning because they take two seconds too long between serves is a bit petty. But consistently taking forty instead of twenty seconds is of a different order. Same for the injury time-outs and toilet breaks. Tennis is the only sport I know where you can actually HAVE such a thing as an injury time-out. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but once a player goes beyond a certain limit the umpire should should say, "sorry, but if you need that much time you're simply not fit to play. Match goes to your opponent."

As far as injury time-outs and toilet/change of attire breaks - I would change the current rules that state that a player gets a certain number of these for free. There needs to be a fair rule that allows a player to get the medical attention they need and allows a player to take a toilet / change of attire break if she needs it. But that also takes into account that this can be unfair to her opponent. Forfeiting a match is too extreme and umpires will be reluctant to go that far.

So I would have that when a medical timeout goes beyond the 90 seconds (or 2 mins at the end of a set) - she forfeits the 1st point of the next game (starts 15-0 down). 2 mins later she forfeits another point etc. No warnings, no discretion - that's just what should happen and the umpire announces the score of the next game when each successive time mark is exceeded. Same principle for toilet / change of attire breaks. Say it's at the end of a set. After 2 minutes she forfeits the first point in the next game. Almost certainly will not be able to do it without forfeiting at least one point.

This way - the player is not prevented from getting the treatment and the breaks she needs. But she has to decide if she is prepared to pay the cost in terms of losing points in the next game. Obviously the fine detail of how long before forfeiting each point can be fine-tuned. But I don't even view what I propose as a punishment and am not saying MTOs and toilet / change of attire breaks are wrong. I just want to create a balance.

Time taken on the court between points though to remain as it is with warnings first if need be and the umpires exercising discretion as they do at present.

Edit: Just realised the thread this subject is in. Probably ought to be in the Women's Tennis thread.

[goldenlox]

Originally Posted by Protoss

Tough draw for Caro but oh well. Based on the draw she should make it to the 3rd round against Kerber.

Good luck Caro.

If Caro doesnt get thru this early draw to play a YEC player, this year could be a lot worse than 2012. This is mid February without once getting thru to a top 8 player in her first 3 events.
Forget about beating a YEC player, the first step is just to get to her in the draw. This is already her 4th hardcourt tournament in 2013. She used to win these kind of events, almost always in the semis

[bruce goose]

Probably quite a few of you have better technical knowledge of the sport,but I saw Caro on today's Shot of the Day clip,and it looked to me as though she hit a pretty nice deep,penetrating FH.That wasn't the shot that won her the point cuz her opponent blocked the ball back over the net in desperate defensive mode.Still,I thought that Caroline hit a fairly good,aggressive shot on that point

[C. W. Fields]

Originally Posted by bruce goose

Probably quite a few of you have better technical knowledge of the sport,but I saw Caro on today's Shot of the Day clip,and it looked to me as though she hit a pretty nice deep,penetrating FH.That wasn't the shot that won her the point cuz her opponent blocked the ball back over the net in desperate defensive mode.Still,I thought that Caroline hit a fairly good,aggressive shot on that point

I like all Caro's shots in this point: 1) A hard, well-placed serve that forces a somewhat passive return. 2) An agressive FH, not super hard and the opponent reads it right but struck deep and she follows it to the net. 3) A good defensive shot from the opponent to Caro's feet, forcing her to hit a difficult, low, one-handed BH volley. It's not always Caro has the 'soft' hands necessary to hit a short, controlled ball but here she did it very well. 4) The opponent manages to run down the short ball and hits an excellent lob. Caro backtracks quickly and - knowing without seeing where the opening must be - hits a controlled, two-handed BHDTL, the first winner I've seen Caro hit after running down a lob!

[goldenlox]

Kerber lost, so Caro wont see a YEC player until Aga in the quarters. But first, round 2

[bruce goose]

Originally Posted by OhNaNa

Does anyone know what Cirstea's form is like?

Was going to make a blatantly male comment on the high quality of Cirstea's "form";seriously,though,I agree with 'Blue' that a Caro with decent focus should be able to win the match

[marineblue]

I don't think Sorana is playing very well lately. I think she's had a few early exits at AO.

I think that a potential match with Barthel will be a good one. She dispatched Kerber yesterday in an impressive fashion. True,the German was injured but still,Mona hit some great winners in that match.

[Chrissie-fan]

Originally Posted by marineblue

I don't think Sorana is playing very well lately. I think she's had a few early exits at AO.

I think that a potential match with Barthel will be a good one. She dispatched Kerber yesterday in an impressive fashion. True,the German was injured but still,Mona hit some great winners in that match.

Sorana and Mona are comparable in that they are great when they are on and awful when they are not.

[marineblue]

Just had a look at H2H and Mona looks like an easier opponent.

H2H Barthel- Wozniacki 0-2
H2H Cirstea - Wozniacki 2-2

[Blu€]

Originally Posted by marineblue

Just had a look at H2H and Mona looks like an easier opponent.

H2H Barthel- Wozniacki 0-2
H2H Cirstea - Wozniacki 2-2

Those H2H stats aren't really relevant, Barthel is in much better form than Cirstea. She just beat Kerber 1 and 2 and won Paris beating Vinci, Bartoli & Errani among others. I don't remember the last time Cirsea had such a run.

[C. W. Fields]

It looks windy today. Caro doesn't like playing in wind, the question is which of the two players it'll bother more?

[goldenlox]

Thats 2 wins. Now another nontop 10 player and if Caro wins, probably Aga.
This is the softest quarter, and no reason, besides maybe her ankle, that she shouldnt do well this week

[TennisFan66]

Originally Posted by goldenlox

Thats 2 wins. Now another nontop 10 player and if Caro wins, probably Aga.
This is the softest quarter, and no reason, besides maybe her ankle, that she shouldnt do well this week

Yeah, the shoe hid a serious strapping. Surely 'just for protection' doesn't need to be that big? .. or ..?

[Protoss]

Originally Posted by TennisFan66

Yeah, the shoe hid a serious strapping. Surely 'just for protection' doesn't need to be that big? .. or ..?

Caro has been taping her ankles for quite awhile now.