[ajmo!]

Now when the season is nearing the end, what do you expect from Petra next year?
I really think she has the quality to got top 30 and win her first WTA tournament.

She really could have done that already but had no luck with injuries. I believe she would be top 40 now if there was no foot injury, also we all know she should have already won WTA title( in bogota last year and this year in Kuala Lumpur).
She has what it takes, great serve, good strokes(especially forehand), fantastic feel for net game and drop shots, I would go that far and say that she's the best player in the world when it comes to drop shots( maybe only Radwanska can come close).
It's now about making it happen. She has to work on her footwork and train a lot, and maybe try to play more two handed backhand. When she gets those things right (if she does) I see her being a fantastic player, she can be as good as Stosur is I believe with the time. And next year top 30? Why not? Cirstea, Lepchenko Ula, Zakopalova, Makarova, Wickmayer are all top 30 players, I think Petra is already at that level, only question is if she can keep it trough hole next year.

it will be important to stay healthy.

[Ollie_R]

I really hope she can make the top 30, as she has the game to do it (and higher). She just needs to tighten up her game in places and then we'll see where it will take her. Her variety of shot is excellent, and she has a great serve too.

Hopefully next year will be really successful for Petra!

[croat123]

the biggest problem she has is that she has can't maintain her top level throughout a match. we saw that against vika this week. petra play phenomenal tennis in the middle of that match, but the rest was sloppy

[Hele.]

Originally Posted by ajmo!

And next year top 30? Why not? Cirstea, Lepchenko Ula, Zakopalova, Makarova, Wickmayer are all top 30 players, I think Petra is already at that level, only question is if she can keep it trough hole next year.

it will be important to stay healthy.

This is my opinion about Petra's expectations for next year.

[ma re]

Originally Posted by ajmo!

Now when the season is nearing the end, what do you expect from Petra next year?
I really think she has the quality to got top 30 and win her first WTA tournament.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts. But let me elaborate a little.

She'll have to stay healthy, which goes without saying. She'll have to stop losing in the first round in every-single-freakin-mandatory (except RG), she'll have to work on her focus as much as on her game - if not more - cause it was evident against Vika that she suddenly floats away mentally and can after reaching a break point suddenly make two ridiculous mistakes. With that and not relying on backhand slice so much, she definately has what it taked to reach top 30. Things just need to fall into place.

Start of the season will be very important - not just because it sets you up for the rest of the season, but also because she has very little to defend in the first 7 weeks, so one win in Melbourne would more than suffice in that regard. Apart from KL, she is defending a total of 200 in Copenhagen+Budapest, 280 in RG and 125 in Tokyo. Other points are not that big, so she'll have plenty of opportunity (especially in the 2nd half of the year) to defend everything.

If there's one thing I know, it is that Petra is severly underranked.

P. S. She lost in doubles in Linz too, but at least she and Dani put up a fight.

[Rex59]

Looks like no visuals for Petra's match with Cirstea tomorrow. Center is only streamed. Schedule is out and they placed their match as the lst match on Court 1. Now, looking at the attached OOP for tomorrow, I question why they did that. Who cares about doubles, the last match on Center? Why not place all doubles match on Court 1 and feature the singles on center, where are all the top-player's matches are featured tomorrow, save for the last match? Duly po'd at the scheduler.

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

[Rex59]

Cirstea tidily puts an end to Martic's season, 2 and 2 in 52 minutes. No visuals. Now, take a couple of weeks off and then hit the gym, don't skip any meals and return in January 15 pounds heavier. Then, we'll see..... However, come back at the same weight or less, next season will be a duplicate of this season.

[networthy]

Originally Posted by Rex59

Cirstea tidily puts an end to Martic's season, 2 and 2 in 52 minutes.

Not quite yet--she's still in doubles

She and Minella are playing right now against J-Salkic/Khromacheva. They won the first set 64 and are tied at 3-all in the second.

[networthy]

They got broken to go down 3-5 but broke right back--at love, no less

[networthy]

They got broken again to lose the second set 46

But they won the third 10-4

[TimeyWimey]

i just don't like her losing to Cirstea, one of the worst player to ever exist

[Dan_Doe]

Originally Posted by TimeyWimey

i just don't like her losing to Cirstea, one of the worst player to ever exist

I see what you did here

[TeamUla]

Where does Petra start her season?

[croat123]

She's playing in the French interleagues these days for practice. No clue what her first event will be

[ma re]

Originally Posted by PainfulTruth

Where does Petra start her season?

I haven't read any interviews of her's recently, and the first MD lists are surfacing these days (I've only seen Auckland and there are no Croats in the MD), so we can only speculate. Of the past 4 seasons 2012 was the only one which she started in Melbourne - 3 years before that she would always play something before AO.

Anyway, her start of 2012 was pretty awful so she's at least not defending much (one win in Melbourne would more than make up for all the points until Kuala Lumpur).

I'm really looking forward to the new season. For Petra, it's a slim chance that it could be worse than the last one.