Internazionali BNL D’Italia, Rome [2] Angelique Kerber (GER) vs. [46] Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) Regaining your confidence once you have lost it is never easy. To believe in yourself despite repeated losses requires tremendous inner strength. We have seen players unravel mentally/emotionally and never recover. We have also seen some of the great players go through periods…
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Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, UAE [CR14] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) vs. [CR46] Coco Vandeweghe (USA) They’ve played each other twice before and their head-to-head was tied 1:1. Pliskova a top ten player when they first met in 2013 destroyed Vandeweghe in two easy sets. Their second encounter was in 2015 at Wimbledon and Vandeweghe extracted…
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Citi Open, Washington Women’s Final: [CR35] Sloane Stephens (USA) vs. [CR40] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) The monkey is finally off her back. No longer can people say she is one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour never to have won a title. Stephens handled the pressure of her first WTA Tour singles final…
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TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup, Turkey [CR41] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs. [CR58] Roberta Vinci (ITA) Pavlyuchenkova has dominated their rivalry, 5:1. Vinci had to come out swinging to prevent another loss; yet, getting the break is irrelevant if you cannot hold your serve at that critical moment. When you play an opponent who has more…
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BRD Bucharest Open, Romania [CR57] Julia Goerges (GER) vs. [CR90] Danka Kovinic (MNE) When you are an established player, you are expected to win the matches against the young up and coming players. Yet, often we have seen seasoned players lose at the hands of their younger opponents. They play with fearless abandon, going for…
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BRD Bucharest Open, Romania [CR71] Annika Beck (GER) vs. [CR78] Andreea Mitu (ROU) How do you lose a match after winning the first set 6-1? This is one of those instances when the score is misleading. Although Beck won the first set 6-1, it was not because of brilliant tennis; rather, it was the result…
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