congrats! tough match but well deserved! Alexandrova was not mentally ready to win this match!

 

sweet revenge on prior loss to Alexandrova. Iga is on the way to settle score w all her nemesis. Hoping for Gauff, Penko rematches when they will feel the champion's fury

 

Oh god, Ekat. Why bother

 

What happend to Iga? Lost 10 games in 3 matches and then this performance??
Good fight in the end!

 

3 matches in 36 hours.

 

So 5ga won a tennis tournament missing the #1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ranked players. Rates a gigantic nothingburger. If she thinks this is some type of momentum, she'll have a stark reality check next week when the sports-washing month of subsidized fans, inflated paychecks, and better players come for the same loot, and quickly displace her.

 

what reality check, is she supposed to win every tournament to be relevant in your opinion? This is stupidity at its finest

 

Well, Alexandrova is #10 in live race (#11 live ranking), #12 in tennisabstract yearly Elo (#16 career Elo). She is riight on the bubble of top 10 with all the metrics as well as the eye test. And that means she is going to be even above that level on a good week, so I think it is not overhyping to say she is playing at top 5 level at one of her favourite tournaments (Seoul).

 

Moreover, Alexandrova has had 41 victories this year, only one fewer than Pegula who is currently the 3rd best in this category (Alexandrova being the 5th best).

 

The last 3 months must have literally been a „solid 2” at the most for grandpa igoat. Queen Iga keeps winning trophies while he’s sitting in the corner crying. Ouch

 

Between these two, in a tight match where the mental grind is just as big if not bigger than the physical grind, it’s no surprise that Swiatek pulled it out. Alexandrova has shown time and again that she just lacks the mental toughness to pull out a win like this against a top notch player.

 

I really like those outside in by Drova. Pity that she didn't make it in set 2/3.

 

 

Also, I can’t be bothered checking but Ekaterina must have the worst tiebreak record this year. I knew the minute it went to a second set tiebreak she was done.

EDIT: I checked and she’s 5-12 for the year, including that howler to Mertens in Rosmalen

 

Of the current top 50, Alexandrova has the third worst tiebreak record this year (5-12, 29.4%), behind Kasatkina (1-4, 20%) and Kostyuk (3-9, 25%). She has lost more tiebreaks this year (12) than anyone else in the current top 100, though, ahead of Tauson (11) and Rybakina (10).

 

I’m always ambivalent in this matchup as they’re both my faves. I’m stoked for Iga for pulling this back but gutted for Ekaterina as she was the better player.
I did put a cheeky bet on Iga at 16 *56 as I knew what was going to happen, but I was hoping it wouldn’t

 

Honestly hoping Alexandrova doesn’t get a top 10 spot. She’s been consistent but what has she really done that screams top No slam QF, no 1000 final, ONE 500 title…like she’s making it deep but if she makes it I can’t recall a much less accomplished top 10-er in recent years.

Maybe Mladenovic?! But even then she had a slam QF and a 1000 final…

Alexandrova is the epitome of the second-tier player who’s dangerous but isn’t capable of being a contender.

 

Is Raducanu a better player in your eyes

 

Igs FH was all over the place in the first set and her return on that side was almost a free point for Alexandrova, but unlike other times in the past, instead of bashing herself out of the match she kind of stabilized her game just enough to stay close to Alexandrova, who as expected, caved in at crunch time. Not her best tennis, but it did the job.

Alexandrova has a good and clean game, with pace that she generates easily, and she should do better, but she has such a negative attitude, moping and looking miserable even when she is leading. A shame, but I doubt she is going to change now,

 

Alexandrova has a good and clean game, with pace that she generates easily, and she should do better, but she has such a negative attitude, moping and looking miserable even when she is leading. A shame, but I doubt she is going to change now,

And yet in this match I saw her smile more than in probably the whole of the rest of the year put together, instead of being her usual SulkyDrova self. THAT must be why she lost!

 

Lmao what happened in the first set? Lez be real, this is a 250.

 

Do you want her serve to be good for 3 weeks or reliable for the entire year?

Where are the stats that show Iga’s serve is better this year? Again, your are making a logical fallacy by assuming that because Iga won Wimbledon, that she has a good serve. When in reality, those weeks have proven to be something of an anomaly.

I remember saying how Iga needed to adjust her game before the US Open series of 2022. And all her fans thought that this opinion was wrong because she ended up winning the US Open that year. She hasn’t won a GS on hard courts since and everyone finally accepted that there was a problem. You’re too obsessed with outcomes.

You clearly don't want to understand, that the change in player's game doesn't happen overnight. And that's okay, you don't have to. But the simple fact is, that for Iga this actually is a work-in-progress year, during which she wants to adjust her tennis to fit more difficult surfaces and opponents. And that was the plan all along.

Also, you seem to forget how everyone was saying Iga "can't serve" and especially how her second serve is "pathetic". I don't see too many people saying that now. In fact, it was specifically serving that got her out of trouble even today at multiple pressure points in the second and third set.

Did her slow HC and clay season suffer because of those adjustments she was making? Sure they did, but then with all that work-in-progress she already managed to win two of the titles people were saying she would never win.

 

Where is the evidence that these adjustments have improved her game?

This is a player in decline. Fewer 1st serves in, fewer 1st points won, fewer 2nd serve points, fewer return points won.

Let's assume she has made 'adjustments' that only started working since the grass court season. How do her stats compare?

First serves in: 60.03% (worse than 2024 and 2023)
1st serves won: 74.3 % (much better than 2024 and 2023)
2nd serves won: 50.68% (worse than 2024 and 2023)

But what's happened since the grass season? If we assume that the grass season was not an anomaly, and that Iga has made technical adjustments to her game that will be present in her game in all future tournaments, how have her stats been since?

First serves in: 57.09% (much worse than previous seasons).
First serves won: 72% (much better than previous seasons).
2nd serve points won: 49.49% (much worse than previous seasons).

So she is being more aggressive on 1st serve causing her to win more points but make fewer serves. And her second serve is still bad.

All of which begs the question: are the adjustments in the room with us?

 

Iga was never losing on courts tailor made for her. That event had blue clay as a surface.

 

Iga doing Brad Gilbert’s ‘winning ugly’ for a change 🤣

 

Don’t see how people can say that Alexandrova choked when she never had a huge lead in the 2nd or 3rd set and was never close to winning. If anything Iga made this harder by not stepping on the gas on the 3rd set after gaining momentum in the 2nd set TB.

Serve needs to stabilize but it’s good that she is capable of looping in the FH just to rally. I feel though that her BH has become loopier too which is not good.

 

I added little text, it's more likely "shut up, I beg you" but this has better ring to it, imo.

 

Of course, Kayta choked in yet another important match. I expect nothing else from her. At least she made Iga play for it a little bit.

 

Alexandrova having a good year, 10 in the 2025 race, 11 in the 52 week rankings, but finishing is a long term issue

 

 

Those trophies. 💀

 

Why all glazing Iga, she played horrible. She won thanks to Drova being a choker.

 

A champion beat a dangerous top 11-20 player
Well done to Iga. I’m really happy she took this title. Hopefully she’ll have easier matches in Beijing