WTA 500 Stuttgart 4/17 - 4/23 2023

[ti-amie]

Day 8 Order of Play

Centre Court
Starts at 12:00 PM

CHI A. GUARACHI/NZL E. ROUTLIFFE vs USA D. KRAWCZYK/NED D. SCHUURS (2)
NOT BEFORE 2:00 PM
Semifinal
RUS A. POTAPOVA vs BLR A. SABALENKA (2)
NOT BEFORE 4:00 PM
Semifinal
POL I. SWIATEK (1) vs TUN O. JABEUR (3)
Semifinal
RUS V. KUDERMETOVA/RUS A. POTAPOVA vs USA N. MELICHAR-MARTINEZ/MEX G. OLMOS (3)

[JazzNU]

Garcia appeared to get injured during her match. Not sure if it's serious, but her play was noticeable at lower level than it was at the start. Some are saying that it is an abdominal injury, but haven't seen anything confirmed. She left the court for her treatment so it wasn't as clear as it otherwise may have been.

[3mlm]

On the Iga front, I won't go as far as saying I love the new kit, but I like it and it is a definite upgrade to the pedestrian Asics designs.

ON seems to be aiming for the conservative crowd. The tennis shoes are good quality, but the designs are nothing to get excited about (the running shoes have some interesting things). For the price, I am not sure if I would buy any of their gear.

I know ON is designing new shoes specifically for Swiatek and she was wearing an ON kit but it appeared she was wearing Asics shoes today.

[ponchi101]

Ons (not the company) retired with a calf injury against Iga. Seems that her streak of bad luck continues, with the injuries.

[ti-amie]

Day 9 Order of Play

Centre Court
Starts at 01:00 PM

Final
POL I. SWIATEK (1) vs BLR A. SABALENKA (2)
UPCOMING
Final
USA N. MELICHAR-MARTINEZ/MEX G. OLMOS (3) vs USA D. KRAWCZYK/NED D. SCHUURS (2)

[ptmcmahon]

Happened in the third point of the game too.

[Suliso]

An important win for Iga over Aryna to defend her Stuttgart title. H2H is now 5-2 in favor of Swiatek. Didn't have her serve broken today (1 BP).

13th WTA title in her 16th title.

[Fastbackss]

It was high octane and enjoyable to watch.

Not sure where it ended up but Iga's 1st serve percentage was ridiculously high

[ponchi101]

3 & 4 is a one sided score against Aryna. Obviously I could not watch the match, but the stats make it look like Iga was never in danger.
Best clay court players since .... Henin?

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

Do we know what Porsche they get? I assume the Taycan (the EV) but I can't find anything about that.

[Owendonovan]

Do we know what Porsche they get? I assume the Taycan (the EV) but I can't find anything about that.

Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo

[ashkor87]

Swiatek? A given. No refutation there, with only one caveat: last player to defend a slam title was Serena at Wimby ('15-'16). So, sure, she will be the favorite. But not at 75%.
Sabalenka. 3 times R32 at RG. That is her best showing. But she has won Madrid, at that altitude (ha!) of 600 mts. Sincerely, don't see her doing much.
Ons. Sure, why not? She likes the surface, and seems to be back after yesterday's win.
Samsonova. You have your soft spot for her.
Krejcikova. I say she will be the second best player of the season.
Rybakina? See you on grass, my dear.
Bencic? Nah, she will do fine, and will be a force in the smaller 500's.
Coco. She is the RG RU from last year. She will do better than you expect. Repeating that final will be tough.
Dark horse. Mademoiselle OTHER. Get ready for some unknown players winning something big (not a 1000).

i have been warned not to criticize Coco - there is a law against it, apparently.. so I will say only this - she had a very good draw at RG last year.. indeed, when I saw the draw, I said she is going to the semis (didnt expect Trevisan to be her semi opponent, so didnt say finals!) - you can check if you like on last year's forum.

<heavy eye roll> what I actually said is that you don’t need to dunk on her in literally every tennis-related thread on the the forum, which you are doing yet again in this backhanded fashion.

if you read Coco's own statements, she is saying exactly what I am saying, that level of self-awareness does her credit...it means she will be able to turn things around. Except for the technical error on her forehand, which is easy to correct by some coach who works on her footwork. This kind of flaw is easier for an external observer like me, or anyone who knows tennis, than for Coco herself to see. She doesnt seem to have realized what her problem is. Hope she does, soon.