British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Coup Droit wrote:

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sammmm wrote:

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Alicia breaks in the second set *4-3. It looks like it's the depth of Alicia's hitting that is causing Mika to miss a lot more than she has done in her previous matches this week

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 Mika had lots of pressure in that second set, lots of opportunities, especially in that 6th game 

So she then, when she didn't quite make it, she got frustrated and went for a couple of pretty unlikely winners - which (not surprisingly) missed by a long way

It was an outlier of a game, caused by irritation

I don'k think she's been making a lot more mistakes than before, not really apart from that game 

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 I guess I'm maybe biased based on the fact I barely noticed her making mistakes in her previous matches whereas today they are making the difference.

I think Alicia's depth has made it harder for Mika, whenever Mika gets on the front foot she looks really good but Alicia has kept Mika on if not behind the baseline for the most part

Coup Droit wrote:

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I don't think the errors were the main thing - there were plenty by Alicia too - just a 'normal' amount all round, I'd say

It's true that Alicia's defence was very good, which gave Mika an extra ball to hit, often an easy ball, which she wasn't too good with

I saw a lot of choices of shot which were an issue for Mika - in the last game for instance, where - at 30-30, a key point - she went for a little slice forehand - but it was nowhere near good enough - not an error, but it just left a relatviely easy shot for Alicia

Also, her drive volleys need to be worked on - she had a lot that she played too tentatively, and the point carried on, whereas they should have been finished off

But it was a pretty good match from both

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Shot choice is a good observation, I wonder if she wants to mix it up sometimes but picks the wrong moment to do so.

Strongly agree that it looks like Mika is scared of overhitting anything dropping out of the air

Alicia also has an impressive ability to find a big serve just when she needs one, the Ace at Deuce in the final game being a good example. She does often follow up her Aces with a DF though