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Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:32 am
by jaydeep
Serena Williams ...
Most grand slam titles in the open era.
The oldest woman to win a grand slam singles title.
Oldest player to be ranked #1 in singles.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 2:40 pm
by PKBasu
The doubles players did very well at Indian Wells. Vesnina won the title, and Mladenovic (who had previously not been ranked in the top-20 in singles ever) made the SF. Amazing stuff!
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 3:17 pm
by sameerph
Ostapenko wins it. Youngest winner since 1997. Great turnaround by her after losing the first set.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 1:24 am
by prasen9
Ostapenko hits harder than Andy Murray! Only Nadal and Thiem hit harder (faster) than her. Given that women's footspeed is slightly slower than men's, her shots are doubly devastating. What a talent! And, she is fearless. She just goes for her shots at any juncture. Hits tons of winners (and more unforced errors) like Wawrinka.
All said and done, Halep choked. She had the game and strategy to neutralize Ostapenko but only if she played smart, nerveless tennis. She could not.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 3:46 am
by Sin Hombre
The French Open uses lighter balls for women. Add the lack of spin, angles and depth of shots in women's tennis and I find it quite amusing that the media has used this whole Ostapenko hits harder than Murray so much.
She is an exciting player to watch without the need for such comparisons.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 4:50 am
by prasen9
Thanks for the information. I had no clue. That should have been mentioned. Idiot commentators. Even if she is an exciting player to watch, that piece of information would have been remarkable and therefore, useful if it was apples to apples comparison. Now, it seems like the "Ashwathama Hatha" episode.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 7:31 am
by PKBasu
Sin Hombre wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2017 3:46 am
The French Open uses lighter balls for women.
Wow, that is an astonishing fact. If only the French Open does this, it must be quite difficult for the players to adjust. These sorts of changes are quite bizarre, and have been occurring in tennis regularly over at least the past four decades (unbeknownst to most fans and non-professionals).
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2017 1:04 pm
by prasen9
Seems like all the grand slams do this and the difference is not much.
USO Balls Anyone else who has information/article about this, please point us to it.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:54 am
by jaydeep
Few more articles on a similar note.
Part III: men’s and women’s tennis compared
Did you know that the women and the men play with slightly different balls, depending on the court surface? Wertheim, in his weekly mailbag column on SI.com, sought the guidance of the ATP’s Gayle Bradshaw, who was able to explain how the balls differed.
“Although on hard courts they are referred to as the ‘women’s’ ball, it is actually a ‘Regular Duty’ ball with the ‘Extra Duty’ ball used for men’s matches. For the men, a regular duty ball is used on clay and the extra duty is used for hard courts while the women use the regular duty ball on all surfaces,” said Bradshaw, the ATP’s Executive Vice President, Rules & Competition. “The feel of the regular duty ball versus the extra duty ball is that it is lighter and more lively (faster) whereas the extra duty ball has a heavier feel. However, the weight of both balls must fall within the same range to be approved (56.0 to 59.4 grams).”
Speaking with Tennismash, Bradshaw gave a little more detail about why the difference existed. “You will find that (at) most, if not all, claycourt events the men and women will be using the same ball,” he said. “Hard courts are a different story. The extra duty ball has a heavier feel for the players and does not ‘fly’ quite like the regular duty ball. There have also been comments that the extra duty’s heavier feel is a cause of arm issues with the women.
“So to condense it: the regular duty ball is livelier and suits the women’s game well, whereas the men like the feel of the extra duty ball when playing on a hard court.”
Another factor demarcating the two games is the forever contentious three-versus-five set scoring format at the majors. For the uninitiated: women play best-of-three sets in Grand Slam tournaments while men play best-of-five. This has forever fuelled the equal prize money debate and has inevitably – intentionally or not – positioned the women differently to the men.
What are the Differences Between the Tennis Balls Each Major Uses?
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 3:37 am
by PKBasu
Kvitova vs Venus would be the dream Wimbledon final for me. Two fairy tales merging into one. Let's hope the draw doesn't make them play each other too soon.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:47 pm
by Varma
This girl, Gabriela Muguruza, is proving to be quite a ruthless winner. It's been a while we saw a player bageling her opponents (even for a set) in big tournament finals. She beat Venus 7-5, 6-0 at Wimbledon last month. Yesterday in the Cincinnati Masters finals, she made Halep look hapless by handing her a shocking 6-1, 6-0 defeat. In her, we are probably looking at a player set to dominate the women's field for the next few years.
- Varma
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 3:00 am
by PKBasu
Venus faded in the Wimbledon final, because she was clearly not completely fit. Muguruza needs to become more consistent, and of course she needs to be able to defeat Serena after she gives birth to her baby and returns to the circuit.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:07 am
by PKBasu
It is truly bizarre that Venus Williams (finalist at both Wimbledon and the Aus Open this year, having lost the latter to Serena, who isn't playing because of her daughter's recent birth) is only seeded 9th at the US Open. She was supposed to play Muguruza (who beat her at the Wimbledon final) in the QF, but instead gets to play Petra Kvitova, winner of a couple of Wimbledon titles herself. And Pliskova (who has never won a Slam title, although she did make the USO final last year) lords it over the other half of the draw as the top seed. The women's ranking system allows too many also-rans to be #1.
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:54 am
by prasen9
Kvitova played inspired tennis. Muguruza did not do terribly but she could not compete.
So, you are saying that we should put more stock on Grand Slam performance and reduce the points for the other tournaments? That may be a better system. Did Venus play a full schedule this year? Or is she suffering because she did not play enough tournaments to get the points?
Re: WTA Tour/Non-India Fed Cup
Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:13 pm
by sanjay5goel
maybe we should just do away with other tournaments and only keep the slams - the slams are the only ones that matter anyway - right?
Hare Krishna!