$1.3M Tier-I WTA - Acura Classic, La Costa (San Diego)

[_Rajiv]

I've been told that my report on the SM-AM match was a little harsh towards Sania. I felt obliged to clarify.
When I went back to read the report, I realized what had happened. Based on her array of shots, execution, I pretty much treat Sania - right now - as a top-10 top-20 caliber player, who on her given day, can give the best player in the world a run for her money. And so, I dont feel the need to talk much about her strengths during the game. They're a given, or in geek-speak, "default".
That said, I was disappointed with her play and composure in the first set. Other than that, Sania was the better player on the day (most of Sets 2 and 3), and that's why I felt that she shouldn't have lost the match. I've seen comments about her serve - I feel that she's reasonably strong in that department - but her match against AM saw her struggle to get rhythm. This, and composure when things don't go well with the ability to recover momentum quickly are both areas a player would need to develop - IMO - to become a top-10 player. Her second serve could probably use some work - more kick, perhaps?
Personally, I place huge emphasis on physical fitness for active sports (I chuckle quietly when friends remark that they've been getting back to some exercise - they play cricket on the weekends!) - Sania is clearly gifted with the strength and ability. Endurance, and bursts of speed are of vital importance as well. While fast-twitch muscle is something you can rarely increase, getting the heart-rate down a few beats per minute after a dash/scramble could make the difference between being able to finish the shot and hitting it just wide/low/long.

[potato]

Saw Peng-Clijsters and thought Peng was off the hook.

If she plays like that consistently, she's a top 5'er, no doubt about it. I mean wow, almost 24 hours later and I'm still stunned how she played.

[Nate]

That was a stunning performance, she was stroking the ball phenomenally well and Clijsters was too defensive.
Saw the second set of Pierce beating Peng yesterday. Pierce came prepared unlike Clijsters and played aggressive, started going for the lines and angles from word go. That dropped Peng's level a few notches.
Peng's got the game though. The match was closer than the score 6-2, 6-2 would suggest.

[BSharma]

I watched the Pierce and Peng match on TV from the start of the first set but missed the second set. The commentators spoke how Pierce's coach (her brother) studied the Peng-Clijsters and told Pierce to attack the first serve of Peng. Did Pierce's coach reveal his strategy before the match to the commentators? I don't think so but they must have been aware of Pierce's brother watching the previous match and must have noticed Pierce's change in tactics from the word go againt Peng. It just goes to show why a travelling coach is so important for tennis players. Players like Harsh, Rohan, etc are caught in Catch-22 situation where they don't have enough money to hire a travelling coach, and to rise up in the rank often requires spending money for a part-time or full-time coach.