[networthy]

Our top male and female players are playing the world's #1 players on the same day: Petra vs Azarenka, Cilic vs Federer

When was the last time that happened?!?

[battista]

Photos Linz:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ralfrei...7631750434079/

[ma re]

A question for my fellow Croats (and all who know our national team well enough): how many of you think that next year we stand a chance of getting out of the regional fed cup slum, now that we'll (hopefully) have Martic and Vekic as the top players? Imagine if we could get Darija Jurak to join them as a doubles specialist - that would be one heck of a team! We could maybe even give the 4th spot to some youngster who could use experience (Mrdeza?). Any thoughts?

[tennismaster8820]

It was very good performance from Petra vs Azarenka!

Shame she lost intensity all of a sudden just when she was totaly in the match.
Valuable experience for sure!

[ajmo!]

Good match, really should have won a couple more games in second set.

[Dan_Doe]

2-6 2-6 to Azarenka, but the match was harder for the world #1 than the scoreline might suggest.
Petra played very well at times, especially in the start of the second set, but Azarenka was too good in the key moments.
So much fun to watch Petra I love the girl more and more.

[ma re]

Well it turns out I was overly ambitious, expecting Petra to win about 6 games today, but still a solid performance.

Of course, Azarenka is in a totally different league, no doubt about that, but Petra made her work for the win, and you have to respect that. The worst thing for me about tennis is handing down a win to your opponent, instead of at least making them earn it. Commentators on Eurosport also had a lot of praise for Petra and her effort today, which certainly adds value.

When it comes to problem areas, apart from the obvious inability to do any sort of damage with the backhand slice, Petra's lapses in concentrations were probably the most obvious. It was not so much sheer frustration, as you would expect of her several years ago, but sudden drift away from the court mentally, and that's definately something she should focus on. She definately should come to the net more often, cause her touch and overall net skills are too good to end up neglected. Her movement is not too bad and when teamed up with serve, forehand and confidence, it can help her make an impact, even against some of the very best.

Azarenka was pretty standard today, used Petra's occasional nervous episodes or laps of concentration to utilize on them, which is what any top class player would do in her shoes. She became obviously restless in the second set, and kudos to Petra for making that happen by keeping her focus and keeping the pressure in serveral games for extended periods. It's a shame that she couldn't win more of those games where she made it to 30 or 40, but I guess it's all a learning experience.

I don't know what Petra's plans are for the rest of the year, but it would be really good IMO to see her on a strong ITF next, something like 100k. After this experience and a surge of confidence, not to mention all the match play that she got in this week (still to play semi of doubles tomorrow), she'd sweep through an average 100k field and got to valuable points. Really hope her camp is thinking in that direction.

All in all, a great week - that is still not finished - and a nice foundation for 2013. Good job Petra

[jetglo]

She showed how much potential she has today, and even though she couldn't sustain the level against Vika, who can ATM? Sharapova lost 6-3 6-1 a week ago so Petra, with her ranking and still a fairly limited number of matches since her return, performed very well, all things considered.

Some of her shots were just She's so beautiful to watch.

[Rex59]

Originally Posted by ma re

Well it turns out I was overly ambitious, expecting Petra to win about 6 games today, but still a solid performance.

Of course, Azarenka is in a totally different league, no doubt about that, but Petra made her work for the win, and you have to respect that. The worst thing for me about tennis is handing down a win to your opponent, instead of at least making them earn it. Commentators on Eurosport also had a lot of praise for Petra and her effort today, which certainly adds value.

When it comes to problem areas, apart from the obvious inability to do any sort of damage with the backhand slice, Petra's lapses in concentrations were probably the most obvious. It was not so much sheer frustration, as you would expect of her several years ago, but sudden drift away from the court mentally, and that's definately something she should focus on. She definately should come to the net more often, cause her touch and overall net skills are too good to end up neglected. Her movement is not too bad and when teamed up with serve, forehand and confidence, it can help her make an impact, even against some of the very best.

Azarenka was pretty standard today, used Petra's occasional nervous episodes or laps of concentration to utilize on them, which is what any top class player would do in her shoes. She became obviously restless in the second set, and kudos to Petra for making that happen by keeping her focus and keeping the pressure in serveral games for extended periods. It's a shame that she couldn't win more of those games where she made it to 30 or 40, but I guess it's all a learning experience.

I don't know what Petra's plans are for the rest of the year, but it would be really good IMO to see her on a strong ITF next, something like 100k. After this experience and a surge of confidence, not to mention all the match play that she got in this week (still to play semi of doubles tomorrow), she'd sweep through an average 100k field and got to valuable points. Really hope her camp is thinking in that direction.

All in all, a great week - that is still not finished - and a nice foundation for 2013. Good job Petra

Petra is playing Luxembourg next week. A nice draw for a 220k tourney, just about similar to Linz. Unless she plays some obscure ITF tourney, Lux' appears to be her last event for the year.

http://www.bglbnpparibas-open.lu/en/players_main.php

[ma re]

Thanks for the info Rex, yes Luxembourg seems interesting in terms of field. I just hope Venus ends up in the other half of the draw

[Rex59]

Originally Posted by ma re

Thanks for the info Rex, yes Luxembourg seems interesting in terms of field. I just hope Venus ends up in the other half of the draw

You're welcome, Ma re. Yet, I do hope they meet, but not in the lst or 2nd round. My luck is bad this year when it comes to faves meeting early, for I didn't like the fact that Petra played Kvitova in the 2nd round in Tokyo. I wanted them to meet for sure, but not in the 2nd round, wanting both faves to go deep in the draw.

[TimeyWimey]

Luxemburgo main draw

(3)Jelena Jankovic (SRB) v Shuai Peng (CHN)
Andrea Petkovic (GER) v Q
Q v Ksenia Pervak (KAZ)
Petra Martic (CRO) v (6)Sorana Cirstea (ROU)

[ajmo!]

I see her as a favourite to make it to QF! GL

[croat123]

she'll need to play well, good luck!

[Ollie_R]

Hopefully she does well again this week.