[iGOAT]

Being a realist sadly I see this as 62 64 Gauff win. Gauff was one top player who didn't see to have any rust issues in San Jose unlike some others (Sakkari winning four games vs Rogers takes the cake ).

Yeah I just still wonder how consistent GAUFF is and whether she'll have a lapse after the probably emotionally draining OSAKA match. I honestly think she is playing some of her best tennis ever right now; I wasn't very impressed during Roland Garros. She looks incredibly confident this week and I also saw her exhibition with KENIN in Atlanta where she was barely even trying but couldn't miss a shot.

 

[Monzanator]

Yeah I just still wonder how consistent GAUFF is and whether she'll have a lapse after the probably emotionally draining OSAKA match. I honestly think she is playing some of her best tennis ever right now; I wasn't very impressed during Roland Garros. She looks incredibly confident this week and I also saw her exhibition with KENIN in Atlanta where she was barely even trying but couldn't miss a shot.

Yeah, Gauff is doing well though I have one eye on Anisimova who has reached QF in every event since Miami (minus RG R4 which is still worth more than QF at like every non-1000 tournament) and only had 315 points to defend the rest of the season (and almost half of that is Canadian Open R3). If Anisimova beats Rogers she will finally move past Teichmann in the rankings and =CHR. Btw, how the hell is Teichmann on the verge of Top 20 anyway? Still feasting of that Cincinnati '21 final?

 

[iGOAT]

Yeah, Gauff is doing well though I have one eye on Anisimova who has reached QF in every event since Miami (minus RG R4 which is still worth more than QF at like every non-1000 tournament) and only had 315 points to defend the rest of the season (and almost half of that is Canadian Open R3). If Anisimova beats Rogers she will finally move past Teichmann in the rankings and =CHR. Btw, how the hell is Teichmann on the verge of Top 20 anyway? Still feasting of that Cincinnati '21 final?

TEICHMANN also made the RG fourth round thanks to a massive choke from Vika.

 

[Monzanator]

Sabalenka vs Kasatkina is a total mugfest littered with DF. The Gauff/Badosa winner will be a clear favorite in the SF against any of them.

 

[Monzanator]

Toronto MD is out. Winner of Putintseva/Sebov in R2, then Ostapenko/Kalinina/Kvitova/Riske in R3. Pegula & Raducanu are the highest seeds in the QF quarter. On paper Paula got the easiest quarter out of Top 4 seeds by a long mile. No Halep, Anisimova, Serena, Gauff, Kudermetova etc.

 

[Monzanator]

Well, if Kasatkina plays the same crap as she did vs Sabalenka, Paula has a good chance to make the final

 

[iGOAT]

My internet crashed for the entire set — literally cut after the tiebreak and then returned right in time for her interview. Such weird timing but what a delicious result !!!! The first set was some of the best I've seen Paula play; she was CRACKING her groundstrokes and she stuck with it and believed in herself even though it wasn't working at first. I can't comment on the second but it feels like it was one of her best performances ever ?

 

[Monzanator]

Well, Gauff sure helped with her FH completely going off in the second set but Paula was able to stay in the rallies and made few UE.

 

[iGOAT]

Yeah it sounds like Cori had a meltdown in the second set and of course people in GM are focusing on those double faults in the first set, but I thought Paula was really excellent. That passing shot in the tiebreak was sublime and she had that one in the tiebreak against MANDLIK too, but even until then I was so impressed by how committed she was to her groundstrokes and for raising her serve level towards the end of the set. Most importantly, she seemed to be believing in herself and enjoying the battle.

 

[iGOAT]

And wow she's back up to number three in the live rankings (tied for points with María, but I guess has the tiebreaker edge whatever it is) and could go up to number three in the race if she can win the title. The margins are very thin so it doesn't mean too much, but still encouraging signs.

 

[ZenEric]

Yeah I just still wonder how consistent GAUFF is and whether she'll have a lapse after the probably emotionally draining OSAKA match. I honestly think she is playing some of her best tennis ever right now; I wasn't very impressed during Roland Garros. She looks incredibly confident this week and I also saw her exhibition with KENIN in Atlanta where she was barely even trying but couldn't miss a shot.

Well you called it with the "lapse" thing which is understandable on Gauff's part. Shorter turn around for her and after a very emotional victory.

Regardless, Paula played some excellent tennis to help start the doubts creeping in for Coco. Paula knew she had to go for her shots and executed bigtime well into the tiebreaker.

I'm sure CoCo didn't want to fight it out with Paula in a long three setter so that probably had something to do with her sort of caving in during the 2nd.

 

[evypatton9]

Good job Paula! I was not expecting her to win. Good luck against Kasatkina. We want REVENGE for the Rome R3!

 

[Monzanator]

I didn't see @Paullow Badosa commenting during the match so I assume he will be watching off tape in the morning like he said. I wonder if he uses fast forward button though

Polish commentators called it after Kudermetova's match yesterday that she will get the early SF spot (even before there was official news) and this is correct. Paula vs Kasatkina will be at 3:00 am CET; NB 6 pm local.

 

[Paullow Badosa]

I didn't see @Paullow Badosa commenting during the match so I assume he will be watching off tape in the morning like he said. I wonder if he uses fast forward button though

Polish commentators called it after Kudermetova's match yesterday that she will get the early SF spot (even before there was official news) and this is correct. Paula vs Kasatkina will be at 3:00 am CET; NB 6 pm local.

I wasn't really able to watch it live, so it was always going to be in the morning, but I chickened out to try and find the score . I first checked to see changes in her IG numbers, but couldn't really gauge from that (+300 or so during and after the match) then tried Bet365 to see SF odds, expecting Gauff vs Kasatkina, but they weren't uploaded, eventually loaded up Amazon on my phone in bed, saw the video length (knew it would only be two sets), whizzed it along, saw she was like 3-2 30-0 at that stage, feared the worst, brought it along further and she was suddenly 7-6 and a break up in the second, and I was shocked. Needless to say, I'll be watching the 90 minutes or so in full very soon, ha.

A potentially grim tournament has suddenly turned into a very good one. That point on serve at 4-4 in the TB vs Mandlik looks huge right now.

I can watch the match tonight, but man, 2am is really grim, so I'll have to make a decision. If I don't watch live, then I'll probably have the same carry on as I had this morning, haha.

 

[Paullow Badosa]

Good job Paula! I was not expecting her to win. Good luck against Kasatkina. We want REVENGE for the Rome R3!

Yep, hopefully more like Sydney, the last time she won a SF match - she was fantastic that day.

Toronto MD is out. Winner of Putintseva/Sebov in R2, then Ostapenko/Kalinina/Kvitova/Riske in R3. Pegula & Raducanu are the highest seeds in the QF quarter. On paper Paula got the easiest quarter out of Top 4 seeds by a long mile. No Halep, Anisimova, Serena, Gauff, Kudermetova etc.

I wasn't expecting the draw out so soon. Good that's she's got a bye, especially if she does win tonight, and that looks a nice enough R2 match, to hopefully back up another 'free' R1 win (bye). Definitely could have been worse as you say.

 

[iGOAT]

Well you called it with the "lapse" thing which is understandable on Gauff's part. Shorter turn around for her and after a very emotional victory.

Regardless, Paula played some excellent tennis to help start the doubts creeping in for Coco. Paula knew she had to go for her shots and executed bigtime well into the tiebreaker.

I'm sure CoCo didn't want to fight it out with Paula in a long three setter so that probably had something to do with her sort of caving in during the 2nd.

Hopefully Paula doesn't have her own lapse now !

This schedule is kind of annoying that she's the late match, both for European fans and before the final, but I'm hoping for the best. Suddenly she must be the favorite for the title, but all three other players can be quite dangerous.

 

[Monzanator]

Like I've written before, the Kudermetova match was picked for the first slot hours in advance since the Polish commentators knew about it even before OOP came out so must have been some inside text. I can only presume they wanted to give Gauff the night match again but Paula spoiled the party

 

[Paullow Badosa]

Na, it's because of bloody doubles. Kudermetova is back on for that after Paula's match, so had to have her singles first. Given how very few care about it, it's pretty annoying how doubles can totally dictate an OOP.

Hopefully Paula doesn't have her own lapse now !

This schedule is kind of annoying that she's the late match, both for European fans and before the final, but I'm hoping for the best. Suddenly she must be the favorite for the title, but all three other players can be quite dangerous.

I guess it's somewhat good that she gets the later slot in that she has a full 24 hours recovery for her SF match, but won't be as good if she were to make the final as you say. Yeah, her schedule thus far has really sucked for the majority of Europe with matches at 1.30am, 1.30am, and 3am.

A final would have been a very good return at the start of the tournament given that it was a very stacked field, and certainly during the second half of that Mandlike match, but it is a good opportunity for another title now that she's made it to this stage, and the only one with a bye to get this far.

Latest odds I saw were Paula 7/4, Daria 5/2, VK 5/2, Shelby 4/1, so a favourite, but pretty close, as is tonight's semi final, with her being a slight fave.

 

[Monzanator]

Yeah, I forgot they only played two doubles yesterday so Kudermetova had a day off there. She is #5 in doubles rankings so it's curious to see her doing rather well in both instances. And I think she's the main favorite to win the title but maybe Rogers rides the hot hand to cause another upset

 

[Paullow Badosa]

Just caught up, pleased I didn't watch live, and was whizzing through parts of it. I didn't feel confident after the first game after the number of long rallies and her properly having to win every point, and even less so in the next game after not breaking from 0-30 after a couple of near misses. At least she was fighting until the end and had those 3 BPs to get it back to 5-5.

A strange tournament - started concerningly with scraping past Mandlik, but then followed up with one of her best wins this season, but then more questions after this - still not sure what was wrong with her regarding the physio, and if it was some sort of illness, or perhaps the conditions, but she didn't really look particularly comfortable throughout.

A shame because she'd obviously beaten Daria in the SF at Sydney, and while Daria has been picking up a lot of wins these past few months, and Shelby has been playing really well this week, it was a pretty good chance to add another title this season - she might not be in a better position (on paper) to win another tournament for the rest of the year.

I'd have preferred a straight up Sabalenka 6-7 4-6 type defeat like in her last SF then you could have been quite optimistic heading into Toronto, but overall it's still a good tournament despite not actually match her seeding - 185 points in the bag, a surprising win as an underdog, did better or as well as most others who will be in YEC contention (I doubt Rogers will be a threat from that POV, so probably hoping she takes her first title later). I've mentioned a few times that I didn't realise there was a R1 bye, and it was obviously a fairly nice first match on paper, but I would have definitely taken a SF here before the draw was made, especially when you saw the likes of Kasatkina vs Rybakina in R1 (showing the strength of field).

Hopefully she's feeling OK for Toronto (the bye should help), and can grab a win or two there, especially her workable looking first match, and add another 100 point haul to her collection.