Weeks 12 & 13 - WTA1000 - Miami, USA - Hard

dodrade · Futures qualifying

Weeks 12 & 13 - WTA1000 - Miami, USA - Hard

Peter too · Tennis legend

dodrade wrote:
Nice to see people here believing in Emma again. The talent that won her the US Open has always been in there and even more impressive to go the distance and come out on top against a player as fit as Navarro. Whether she has anything left in the tank for Kessler is another question although hiring Nakamura already seems to be paying off.

Mark Petchey also pictured on court with Emma in Miami, not sure whether he or Platenik are responsible for her improved serve this week. Unfortunately he's not really a option re: a full time coach.

Kessler also had a close three set match so she could also have a half filled tank.

Mervatron2 · Challenger qualifying

Fantastic win. Great to see her get another top 10 win.

Would be nice to back it up but will be tough.

GAMEOVER · Satellite level

Babfive wrote:
Jajon wrote:
McCartney as a first name? I dont like it. Is in quite good form this year though
She said recently that her personal target this year is to reach the top 15.

McCartney Kessler has 2 sisters one who is Mackenzie and the other McClain .So a Scottish influence somewhere.Interesting that she went to college where she had a successful career before starting her full time WTA career.

Priesty · Challenger level

GAMEOVER wrote:
Babfive wrote:
Jajon wrote:
McCartney as a first name? I dont like it. Is in quite good form this year though
She said recently that her personal target this year is to reach the top 15.
McCartney Kessler has 2 sisters one who is Mackenzie and the other McClain .So a Scottish influence somewhere.Interesting that she went to college where she had a successful career before starting her full time WTA career.

Don't want her to beat Emma but good luck to her in getting to the top 15, it would be quite a Stella achievement....

B00thy · Lower Club Player

Priesty wrote:
GAMEOVER wrote:
Babfive wrote:
Jajon wrote:
McCartney as a first name? I dont like it. Is in quite good form this year though
She said recently that her personal target this year is to reach the top 15.
McCartney Kessler has 2 sisters one who is Mackenzie and the other McClain .So a Scottish influence somewhere.Interesting that she went to college where she had a successful career before starting her full time WTA career.
Don't want her to beat Emma but good luck to her in getting to the top 15, it would be quite a Stella achievement....

the addict · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
L16:- Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) / Olivia Nicholls (GBR) CR 64 (33+31) vs (Alt) Ekaterina Alexandrova (***) / Peyton Stearns (USA) CR 169 (78+91)
Alexandrova & Stearns beat (4) Ostapenko & Perez in a MTB.

That's both seeds out of that quarter. Ostapenko having a poor sunshine swing - she's 0 from 2 in singles and 2 from 4 in doubles.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

GAMEOVER wrote:
Babfive wrote:
Jajon wrote:
McCartney as a first name? I dont like it. Is in quite good form this year though
She said recently that her personal target this year is to reach the top 15.
McCartney Kessler has 2 sisters one who is Mackenzie and the other McClain .So a Scottish influence somewhere.Interesting that she went to college where she had a successful career before starting her full time WTA career.

Scottish influence?

More like a 'daffy duck daft' influence

What's wrong with Anne and Mary ? biggrin

(and other countries' equivalents of Anne and Mary too, of course smile )

B00thy · Lower Club Player

Coup Droit wrote:
B00thy wrote:
But she is a great player, hampered by confidence .. it's just a matter of time ..
Hampered by too much confidence or too little ?
You weren't clear ....
Frankly, I think there's a bit of both in the equation .....

My point about confidence is that to be affected by such swings of confidence during a match she is like to be over-thinking the situation. She needs to be 'present'. An over-used, misunderstood word, but it involves 'being/doing' wrapped up as one. When got the opportunity to see the expression on her face - I could see someone who is thinking, analysing. This a great asset of hers but it should be used when her tactics are not working. I believe we see it because she doesn't have a tactical plan that needs tweaking. She is reacting too much to individual points as opposed to responding to tactics that aren't working. So her confidence swings. When she should be focused on delivering her plan.

That 8th game in the 3rd set is where Emma could be as a player. Playing fairly deep in the wide channels with power and spin - Iga+. And she followed it with a great serve. Her 'game face' expression was there to be seen. But a minute later something didn't work and her confidence drained away.

If she had a clear plan built around her strengths that she focused on, she would be top 5. She is not able to create a good plan without a good coach but she hasn't realised yet that she cannot create one without a coach. So she wins because of her talent, despite no plan and confidence swings.

Being drained of energy sounds like an excuse to me, likely to be the result of working too hard in reacting, changing her approach constantly as result of confidence swings. Sorry to release the pent-up frustrations but it's clear to me she has more talent than anyone playing in the women's game right now but not the direction or drive

GAMEOVER · Satellite level

Coup Droit wrote:
GAMEOVER wrote:
Babfive wrote:
Jajon wrote:
McCartney as a first name? I dont like it. Is in quite good form this year though
She said recently that her personal target this year is to reach the top 15.
McCartney Kessler has 2 sisters one who is Mackenzie and the other McClain .So a Scottish influence somewhere.Interesting that she went to college where she had a successful career before starting her full time WTA career.
Scottish influence?
More like a 'daffy duck daft' influence
What's wrong with Anne and Mary ?
(and other countries' equivalents of Anne and Mary too, of course )

At first I thought she might have been named after Paul McCartney. McCartney as a Christian name draws more attention than Anne or Mary.

Blue_Belle · Club Coach

People are becoming a bit like SC in the men's forum with all this chat about names....does it really matter?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Blue_Belle wrote:
People are becoming a bit like SC in the men's forum with all this chat about names....does it really matter?

Of course it doesn't matter smile

But when nothing is going on in a thread, because it's the morning and play doesn't start till 3 pm or so, it's a harmless diversion, that people seem to engage with

9vicman · Satellite level

I took a look at Navarro's results this year. Quarterfinals in Melbourne with four three-set wins, and a title in Merida as top seed, but early losses everywhere else. I think she's a very solid player, extremely fit and a good fighter, but I think the match against Kessler will give a greater indication of where Emma's at.

Where Emma has intent she's great to watch, and I remember thinking at the 2021 US Open how comfortable she was on the return of serve. However what was so impressive yesterday was her ability to hang in there in tough moments and still be prepared to impose her game when she had the chance.

JonH comes home · Tennis legend

9vicman wrote:
I took a look at Navarro's results this year. Quarterfinals in Melbourne with four three-set wins, and a title in Merida as top seed, but early losses everywhere else. I think she's a very solid player, extremely fit and a good fighter, but I think the match against Kessler will give a greater indication of where Emma's at.

Where Emma has intent she's great to watch, and I remember thinking at the 2021 US Open how comfortable she was on the return of serve. However what was so impressive yesterday was her ability to hang in there in tough moments and still be prepared to impose her game when she had the chance.

Navarros rise does confuse me a bit - she was in the Ilkley final a couple of years back and lost to Bjorklund. Solid but nothing special and nothing that hurt Bjorklund. At the time Navarro was ranked much lower than now. Her rise starts soon after that and I was and am confounded what changed as it wasnt obvious. Maybe solid is the word.

Var · Satellite level

So Emma is suffering from blisters on her feet. Platenik said her footwork is poor and worked on that with her in their short time together.
Did she ditch him because it hurt too much? Swallow your pride Emma and get him back. A coach who can bring such an improvement in such a short time is surely worth the pain?