That Abu Dhabi SF was a hard-fought big win for Kasatkina. It had to feel good for her, too, b/c she hadn’t managed a win over Beatriz Haddad Maia before. Daria came out with a mind to fight, but so did Beatriz.
It was good tennis!
Tomorrow, she gets a shot at Rybakina in the final. Rybakina gave up a set to Samsonova, but I don’t expect Elena to be as generous with Daria.
I have not checked yet, but I expect Margot to win the Abu Dhabi bracket.
Yay, Martgot! And there will be trumpets…
It’s fun doing the Dubai picks. ATP clay court picking sucks.
Congrats Margot!
Yes, I just looked at your bracket, Margot. Gauff is a good choice. I thought about it and went for Swiatek. I have regrets b/c it is next week that I want IGA to win. There wasn’t enough time to pick that bracket, which is my other regret.
Error alert* forgot where I was and in which desert. Dubai is next week. We are in the Doha bracket this week ๐
What else… envelope, please.
The winner in Abu Dhabi is welshwitch
And in Transylvania, the winner is…Cami! Congrats to Cami ๐ Nice job!
If anyone reading wonders what the heck I am on about, it is our TDC jalep_wildguess group on tennisdrawchallenge.com
Everyone is welcome- if you like guessing the weekly picks.
We lost much of our initial group, but I am happy to say the regulars are still in!
I’ll make a fuss over the winners of the three ATP brackets we did on one of Ricky’s threads. ๐๐
Watching a recording of Iga vs. Sorana shows that Iga’s serve has improved. I remember how shaky it was at times last year. Her backhand is beautiful, and her forehand has improved. Sorana Cirstea is a formidable opponent, maybe not at her best today. Iga finished her off in under an hour. I hope Iga can keep this level up.
The only thing missing is net play. But, vs. Cirstea, she didn’t need it.
She is uncomfortable being reminded how long she has been #1.
I saw Coco lost tamely to Siniakova. Very surprising.
If anyone knows how to watch without using Sky please let me know! Loads of great matches on.
I see Jelena is playing Azarenka which means she will probably lose. Come on Jelena!
Hello amy! I wrote a lengthy post to you, but I let out too much info about myself, so out of time, I deleted it. It was mostly about my move to Portland…it was complaining about Trump, too. Have to let that stuff go.
Ouch! I see my finalist, Vondrousova, lost to Pavluchenkova. In truth, I love to know Pavs has got her game back!
And Danielle Collins (not a favorite) beat Siniakova. Dang it. But, wee Laylah Fernandez has a chance at taking Qinwen Zheng out.
I’m hoping Jelena gives Azarenko a good fight. If I recall, Aza leads Jelena O. 4/0
Yikes! Ostapenko leads Swiatek 4-0 ๐
It would not bother me if Ostapenko beat Iga and went on a roll, at least making it into the top 5!
Hi Elizabeth,
I like Pavs. Dunno why Jelena struggles so much against Azarenka. Hope she wins today.
Come on Elena!
PS you say what you want to either way!! I understand your reluctance to speak about personal stuff…
I am very curious though about American psychology in relation to the Orange Psychopathic Fascist Moron.
Naomi Osaka is all the way BACK! I have watched her matches. Maybe she had soft opponents; I don’t remember the opponents off the top; her serve is just as it was or maybe better. She is so laid back and nonchalant that she’s not even worried a bit when losing a set. She is calm and cool (ruthless) ๐
Rybalina, no doubt, will win this match vs. Emma Navarro. But young Emma Navarro has made this 2nd set competitive… the tie-break will decide. Wow, Emma takes the second set!
Maybe the stately and calm Rybakina underestimated Emma Navarro? I know I did!
Okay, “American Psychology in Relation to the Orange Psychopathic Fascist Mororn.”
It will require some thought, amy, as I have become uncomfortably numb and try my best to ignore him. I can’t watch him on TV, but I read about the latest shit-bombs he throws out to the world. I will try to explain the trumpsters reasons more than say:
1)They are mostly wealthy and greedy folks who don’t think about anyone but themselves + want/need the high-bracket tax break. This group includes the Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate. Also includes climate change deniers, those heavily invested in keeping defense contractors fully funded…
2) Those who can’t get enough of his Kool-Aid. These are unreachable sycophants. (more about this topic on the non-tennis thread)
I don’t think you can here Elizabeth because anything where Sky has broadcasting rights is blocked automatically. Al has Sky but Margot and I won’t get it. A. Because it’s owned by Murdoch and b. It’s very expensive. I certainly can’t afford it.
I got it as part of my Virgin package. Expensive overall monthly but I watch the golf as well. Enjoying the tennis so far, theres the usual commentators including Bartoli and Laura Robson. However theres so much tennis at the moment I cant keepup ๐
I believe Iga will be knackered, yes. I watched the recording of it this morning.
Iga had improved her 1st serve speed. It’s most effective when she can hit it up the T. Rybakina isn’t hurt bad enough to miss Dubai. I hope she makes it. But her defense of IW is coming up fast!
Barbora beat Iga to win Dubai last year didn’t she?! I know she is injured but I don’t altogether understand why since then she has been playing so sub par. Maybe she has underlying injury issues.
Meanwhile Karolina Muchova hasn’t played since the USO which is very worrying. I miss her and she is so unlucky with injuries. This time it’s the wrist.
Barbora- I always have high hopes for her and have picked her to go deep once. But she is not in the Dubai draw. Vondrousova is in Dubai. Vondrousova has been in the draws, but she never goes too far. Muchova has not played in a long time. Noskova and Bouchova have been playing, but Sinakova and Karolina Plikova are in the Dubai draw. Sorry, you only asked me about Barbora and Muchova!
๐คฆ๐คฆ๐คฆ
I like mentioning the whole team, lol. Petra Kvitova is also missing so far.
I was trying to post some information about Bernie to you this afternoon, and I broke down in tears. Sorry, it’s hard to talk about the state of the country.
Coco Gauff is playing the best of any of them at this point. She’s playing a relatively easy opponent in Cocciaretto, but she makes it look easy. She is energetic and speedy, anticipating the shot right there. Solid. Of all the players today, and I watched all of them, I like Gauff. Ostapenko was cruising too today,
Donna Vekic loves beating Sabalenka! Vekic to the Australian winner down a notch. Azarenka took a set off Rybakina before Aza retired the match in the second set. Swiatkek had as much as she could take with Sloane. Stephens came out hot to win, but it wasn’t quite enough. Iga looked tired. Qinwen Zhang escaped a near loss against Nao Hibino. I’d call it a surprise attack from the Japanese. Qinwen was caught off-guard and had to the distance to win.
I will miss tomorrow’s matches. This was my day off. ๐
Absolutely fantastic news that Simona has been cleared of intentionally doping and the charges in relation to her blood passport have been dismissed. She can return with immediate effect.
I never thought she was guilty but Mouratouglou comes out looking very shady.
Horrific ordeal for Simona which is finally over.
Raises a LOT of questions about her original guilty verdict and the fact they wanted to ban her for even longer than 4 years.
Great news Amy!
Yes, it raises many tough questions/ From 4 years to 9 months? That’s a huge difference. Someone wanted her down. I have my own view on that, but will not go deeper. So, she could have started to play much earlier, like previous summer. Let’s get back and smash it Simo!
Eugene they wanted initially to suspend her for 7 years as I remember!! Absolutely shocking for an athlete with an impeccable reputation.
I never believed she was guilty but I think Patrick is a shady guy.
Will be hard for her competing after so long though.
Definitely, Amy. She has a long way to go. Zero WTA points at the moment. But I think she can come back to the top 20-25 at some point. She kept on training and she’s probably more prepared than most think.
I had Jabeur losing to Saba
Out goes Iga, only surprise really is that it’s this round, not later. Know nothing about her cnqueror.
Swiatek was bad the whole week. Not a huge shock.
Bum, Coco out. But Zheng coming through. Pundits were picking her before the tournament and I picked her to go deep, unfortunately not deep enough.
That Abu Dhabi SF was a hard-fought big win for Kasatkina. It had to feel good for her, too, b/c she hadn’t managed a win over Beatriz Haddad Maia before. Daria came out with a mind to fight, but so did Beatriz.
It was good tennis!
Tomorrow, she gets a shot at Rybakina in the final. Rybakina gave up a set to Samsonova, but I don’t expect Elena to be as generous with Daria.
I have not checked yet, but I expect Margot to win the Abu Dhabi bracket.
Yay, Martgot! And there will be trumpets…
It’s fun doing the Dubai picks. ATP clay court picking sucks.
Trumpets ahoy.
Haven’t gone for Rybarakina again, gone for Gauff.
Congrats Margot!
Yes, I just looked at your bracket, Margot. Gauff is a good choice. I thought about it and went for Swiatek. I have regrets b/c it is next week that I want IGA to win. There wasn’t enough time to pick that bracket, which is my other regret.
Error alert* forgot where I was and in which desert. Dubai is next week. We are in the Doha bracket this week ๐
What else… envelope, please.
The winner in Abu Dhabi is welshwitch
And in Transylvania, the winner is…Cami! Congrats to Cami ๐ Nice job!
If anyone reading wonders what the heck I am on about, it is our TDC jalep_wildguess group on tennisdrawchallenge.com
Everyone is welcome- if you like guessing the weekly picks.
We lost much of our initial group, but I am happy to say the regulars are still in!
I’ll make a fuss over the winners of the three ATP brackets we did on one of Ricky’s threads. ๐๐
It’s fun to do Elizabeth and keeps me in touch as I don’t watch tennis much these days since Amazon lost the contract. And Andy of course ๐
Happy you are here Margot!
I don’t have much time to watch will soon be cut off the TV completely as I move myself to a more safe place on March 3.
But the weekly draw challenge is part of my anxiety diversion plan, so I will be doing it without watching as well. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Watching a recording of Iga vs. Sorana shows that Iga’s serve has improved. I remember how shaky it was at times last year. Her backhand is beautiful, and her forehand has improved. Sorana Cirstea is a formidable opponent, maybe not at her best today. Iga finished her off in under an hour. I hope Iga can keep this level up.
The only thing missing is net play. But, vs. Cirstea, she didn’t need it.
She is uncomfortable being reminded how long she has been #1.
Ouch! Coco went out to Danielle, What a terrible pick…;)
I saw Coco lost tamely to Siniakova. Very surprising.
If anyone knows how to watch without using Sky please let me know! Loads of great matches on.
I see Jelena is playing Azarenka which means she will probably lose. Come on Jelena!
Hello amy! I wrote a lengthy post to you, but I let out too much info about myself, so out of time, I deleted it. It was mostly about my move to Portland…it was complaining about Trump, too. Have to let that stuff go.
Ouch! I see my finalist, Vondrousova, lost to Pavluchenkova. In truth, I love to know Pavs has got her game back!
And Danielle Collins (not a favorite) beat Siniakova. Dang it. But, wee Laylah Fernandez has a chance at taking Qinwen Zheng out.
I’m hoping Jelena gives Azarenko a good fight. If I recall, Aza leads Jelena O. 4/0
Yikes! Ostapenko leads Swiatek 4-0 ๐
It would not bother me if Ostapenko beat Iga and went on a roll, at least making it into the top 5!
Hi Elizabeth,
I like Pavs. Dunno why Jelena struggles so much against Azarenka. Hope she wins today.
Come on Elena!
PS you say what you want to either way!! I understand your reluctance to speak about personal stuff…
I am very curious though about American psychology in relation to the Orange Psychopathic Fascist Moron.
Oh, you guys…
Naomi Osaka is all the way BACK! I have watched her matches. Maybe she had soft opponents; I don’t remember the opponents off the top; her serve is just as it was or maybe better. She is so laid back and nonchalant that she’s not even worried a bit when losing a set. She is calm and cool (ruthless) ๐
Rybalina, no doubt, will win this match vs. Emma Navarro. But young Emma Navarro has made this 2nd set competitive… the tie-break will decide. Wow, Emma takes the second set!
Maybe the stately and calm Rybakina underestimated Emma Navarro? I know I did!
Really? I have mydoubts about her coming back. Think Margot has as,well…
I mean Osaka by that!
Okay, “American Psychology in Relation to the Orange Psychopathic Fascist Mororn.”
It will require some thought, amy, as I have become uncomfortably numb and try my best to ignore him. I can’t watch him on TV, but I read about the latest shit-bombs he throws out to the world. I will try to explain the trumpsters reasons more than say:
1)They are mostly wealthy and greedy folks who don’t think about anyone but themselves + want/need the high-bracket tax break. This group includes the Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate. Also includes climate change deniers, those heavily invested in keeping defense contractors fully funded…
2) Those who can’t get enough of his Kool-Aid. These are unreachable sycophants. (more about this topic on the non-tennis thread)
I do Amy.
Can’t see her doing that much. Meanwhile Jelenalost miserably to Azarenka again. It’s quite weird how bad she plays against her.
Hoping for an Iga Elena final.
Thanks for your response Elizabeth! Do write more on non tennis forum…
Storm Hunter! What a name! Have picked her to win a round but think Jabeur may get the better of her. May change my mind though……
Makes me think of very dark clouds overhead ๐
And I see a fearless warrior!
I see you sitting there with a crystal ball Welshwitch!
Pretty rubbish crystal ball, as out goes my warrior first round!
Really wish I could watch the Iga Elena match.
Apparently Elena injured her own leg by bashing it by mistake with her racket.
Amy, you should be able to see the matches on YouTube for free. I can watch them live on YouTube. (only guessing)
I don’t think you can here Elizabeth because anything where Sky has broadcasting rights is blocked automatically. Al has Sky but Margot and I won’t get it. A. Because it’s owned by Murdoch and b. It’s very expensive. I certainly can’t afford it.
I got it as part of my Virgin package. Expensive overall monthly but I watch the golf as well. Enjoying the tennis so far, theres the usual commentators including Bartoli and Laura Robson. However theres so much tennis at the moment I cant keepup ๐
In Doha we’ve all gone for Sabalenka. Think Iga will be knackered.
I believe Iga will be knackered, yes. I watched the recording of it this morning.
Iga had improved her 1st serve speed. It’s most effective when she can hit it up the T. Rybakina isn’t hurt bad enough to miss Dubai. I hope she makes it. But her defense of IW is coming up fast!
Yeah, I picked Sabs to win, of course.
Wow, there is a lot of red on my first-round match picks for Dubai!
Barbora beat Iga to win Dubai last year didn’t she?! I know she is injured but I don’t altogether understand why since then she has been playing so sub par. Maybe she has underlying injury issues.
Meanwhile Karolina Muchova hasn’t played since the USO which is very worrying. I miss her and she is so unlucky with injuries. This time it’s the wrist.
Barbora- I always have high hopes for her and have picked her to go deep once. But she is not in the Dubai draw. Vondrousova is in Dubai. Vondrousova has been in the draws, but she never goes too far. Muchova has not played in a long time. Noskova and Bouchova have been playing, but Sinakova and Karolina Plikova are in the Dubai draw. Sorry, you only asked me about Barbora and Muchova!
๐คฆ๐คฆ๐คฆ
I like mentioning the whole team, lol. Petra Kvitova is also missing so far.
I was trying to post some information about Bernie to you this afternoon, and I broke down in tears. Sorry, it’s hard to talk about the state of the country.
I know things are very grim Elizabeth. Would love to hear about Bernie some time if you can manage it.
Go Bernie!!
amy, I posted on the non-tennis forum a day ago.
Coco Gauff is playing the best of any of them at this point. She’s playing a relatively easy opponent in Cocciaretto, but she makes it look easy. She is energetic and speedy, anticipating the shot right there. Solid. Of all the players today, and I watched all of them, I like Gauff. Ostapenko was cruising too today,
Donna Vekic loves beating Sabalenka! Vekic to the Australian winner down a notch. Azarenka took a set off Rybakina before Aza retired the match in the second set. Swiatkek had as much as she could take with Sloane. Stephens came out hot to win, but it wasn’t quite enough. Iga looked tired. Qinwen Zhang escaped a near loss against Nao Hibino. I’d call it a surprise attack from the Japanese. Qinwen was caught off-guard and had to the distance to win.
I will miss tomorrow’s matches. This was my day off. ๐
Wow! Well done Katie. Way to go!
Absolutely fantastic news that Simona has been cleared of intentionally doping and the charges in relation to her blood passport have been dismissed. She can return with immediate effect.
I never thought she was guilty but Mouratouglou comes out looking very shady.
Horrific ordeal for Simona which is finally over.
Raises a LOT of questions about her original guilty verdict and the fact they wanted to ban her for even longer than 4 years.
Great news Amy!
Yes, it raises many tough questions/ From 4 years to 9 months? That’s a huge difference. Someone wanted her down. I have my own view on that, but will not go deeper. So, she could have started to play much earlier, like previous summer. Let’s get back and smash it Simo!
Eugene they wanted initially to suspend her for 7 years as I remember!! Absolutely shocking for an athlete with an impeccable reputation.
I never believed she was guilty but I think Patrick is a shady guy.
Will be hard for her competing after so long though.
Grand news! Elizabeth will be pleased.
Definitely, Amy. She has a long way to go. Zero WTA points at the moment. But I think she can come back to the top 20-25 at some point. She kept on training and she’s probably more prepared than most think.
K. day, whoever she be, has screwed up everyone’s WTA bracket. ๐