Talk About Tennis 2.0

Day 5 Order of Play

WTA Finals Stadium Court
Starts at 01:30 PM

CHN Y. XU/CHN Z. YANG (6) vs USA D. KRAWCZYK/NED D. SCHUURS (8)
NOT BEFORE 3:30 PM
USA J. PEGULA (3) vs BLR A. SABALENKA (7)
NOT BEFORE 7:00 PM
TUN O. JABEUR (2) vs GRE M. SAKKARI (5)
FOLLOWED BY
CZE B. KREJCIKOVA/CZE K. SINIAKOVA (1) vs USA C. GAUFF/USA J. PEGULA (3)

Gauff got off to a good start - she was hitting well... but then she tried to blow her lead in the 1st set with a bunch of bad errors - and she did blow it... Kasatkina was serving for the set.
But then Kasatkina politely declined the set, and tried to give it to it to Gauff in the tiebreak. But Gauff decided she didn’t want it, either, and gave it back to Kasatkina.
It was not good tennis.

The 2nd set wasn’t very good, either - Gauff lost it much more than Kasatkina won it.

Gauff is now 0-4 in this tournament, singles and doubles combined.

If Kasatkina ever develops a genuine self-confidence, watch out, because she’s a very clean ball striker, and she relentlessly chases every ball down.
I’d love to see that happen - because she has such a genuine and refreshing personality... but I won’t hold my breath.

Sabalenka looked pretty good in beating Pegula in straights. She wobbled serving it out at 5-3 and took it to 7-5, but she her UFEs and serve were in the plus column. Pegula looked gassed. She put up a fight but has been a little flat in all three matches. Not sure how she's going to partner with Gauff in doubles vs #1 in a couple hours.

Day 6 Order of Play

WTA Finals Stadium Court
Starts at 01:30 PM

UKR L. KICHENOK/LAT J. OSTAPENKO (5) vs KAZ A. DANILINA/BRA B. HADDAD MAIA (7)
NOT BEFORE 3:30 PM
FRA C. GARCIA (6) vs RUS D. KASATKINA (8)
NOT BEFORE 7:00 PM
POL I. SWIATEK (1) vs USA C. GAUFF (4)
FOLLOWED BY
CAN G. DABROWSKI/MEX G. OLMOS (2) vs RUS V. KUDERMETOVA/BEL E. MERTENS (4)

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:35 pm Sabalenka looked pretty good in beating Pegula in straights. She wobbled serving it out at 5-3 and took it to 7-5, but she her UFEs and serve were in the plus column. Pegula looked gassed. She put up a fight but has been a little flat in all three matches. Not sure how she's going to partner with Gauff in doubles vs #1 in a couple hours.

Both Pegula and Gauff have looked pretty bad in both singles and doubles thus far - a combined (singles and doubles) 0 wins, 7 losses.
Bizarre.

Pegula is finished her singles (0-3), Gauff has Swiatek (#1 seed) left to play in singles, and the pair have Krejcikova/Siniakova (#1 seeds) left to play in doubles.
It's looking like a combined 0-9 is quite possible.

Sakkari dismisses Jabeur easily, routinely.
Sakkari has found consistency at a high level of play, which is rather surprising to more than a few people.

Jabeur has had a good year, and has won her share of matches, obviously. But if she really wants to take the extra step and start at least being competitive in the big matches, she needs to forget about being the 'Minister of Happiness', and start being the 'Minister of Intensity'.

Deuce wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 11:07 pm

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:35 pm Sabalenka looked pretty good in beating Pegula in straights. She wobbled serving it out at 5-3 and took it to 7-5, but she her UFEs and serve were in the plus column. Pegula looked gassed. She put up a fight but has been a little flat in all three matches. Not sure how she's going to partner with Gauff in doubles vs #1 in a couple hours.

Both Pegula and Gauff have looked pretty bad in both singles and doubles thus far - a combined (singles and doubles) 0 wins, 7 losses.
Bizarre.

Pegula is finished her singles (0-3), Gauff has Swiatek (#1 seed) left to play in singles, and the pair have Krejcikova/Siniakova (#1 seeds) left to play in doubles.
It's looking like a combined 0-9 is quite possible.

Make it 0-8 now for both Gauff and Pegula, as they lost quickly and badly to Krejcikova/Siniakova (2-6, 1-6).
The only chance remaining for them to break free of zero wins is Gauff playing Swiatek tomorrow - so... not very likely.

It's both surprising and disappointing that their season ends on a significantly sour note like this. Not doing well at the WTA Finals would be one thing - it happens... but to have zero wins and 9 losses between them is pretty extreme. It's unfortunate, as well, because both of them had impressive years in both singles and doubles.

Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Nov 05, 2022 3:07 am

Deuce wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 11:07 pm

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:35 pm Sabalenka looked pretty good in beating Pegula in straights. She wobbled serving it out at 5-3 and took it to 7-5, but she her UFEs and serve were in the plus column. Pegula looked gassed. She put up a fight but has been a little flat in all three matches. Not sure how she's going to partner with Gauff in doubles vs #1 in a couple hours.

Both Pegula and Gauff have looked pretty bad in both singles and doubles thus far - a combined (singles and doubles) 0 wins, 7 losses.
Bizarre.

Pegula is finished her singles (0-3), Gauff has Swiatek (#1 seed) left to play in singles, and the pair have Krejcikova/Siniakova (#1 seeds) left to play in doubles.
It's looking like a combined 0-9 is quite possible.

Make it 0-8 now for both Gauff and Pegula, as they lost quickly and badly to Krejcikova/Siniakova (2-6, 1-6).
The only chance remaining for them to break free of zero wins is Gauff playing Swiatek tomorrow - so... not very likely.

It's both surprising and disappointing that their season ends on a significantly sour note like this. Not doing well at the WTA Finals would be one thing - it happens... but to have zero wins and 9 losses between them is pretty extreme. It's unfortunate, as well, because both of them had impressive years in both singles and doubles.

Gauff and Pegula both have to play BJK Cup next week, right? Maybe they decided to prioritize that and save some energy. Otherwise, pretty disappointing tournament for both, obviously. But it's also the toughest draw you could get! Like starting a Slam in the quarterfinals. Oh well.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Sat Nov 05, 2022 9:54 pm

Aha. Knew she wasn't close to 100%.

People keep saying the match was messy but fun. All I got was the messy.

Garcia, with both of her parents looking on, won in three.

Too bad for Pegula/Gauff that they couldn't get any going this week - combined 0-6 at a WTA Finals on home soil has to hurt a bit.

^ It's actually 0-9 for Gauff and Pegula combined.
Given Gauff's young age and inexperience, one must wonder how this drubbing over the entire week will affect her over the next year or so.

My pick in singles is still alive - if only barely. Yes, the Kasatkina - Garcia match was crazy... I would have been happy no matter who won it.

Kasatkina really has to do something about her lack of confidence and self-belief - especially when serving. She has a good serve - first and second serves - but she doesn't know it. She gets nervous and tight and either throws up puff balls or double faults.