Women's Tennis WTA Tour 2023 Road to Paris 2024

[Rafa Maciel 1,261]

I'm actually a fan of Raducanu - she was a breath of fresh air for British women's tennis which had been in a bit of a rut despite the best efforts of Baltacha, Konta, Watson and Robson - but she is frustrating and the novelty is beginning to wear off a bit.  

 

Whoever has been acting as her advisors since winning the US Open have done her a real disservice. She has barely been able to string 2 wins together, she's gone through coaches like they are disposable tissues, she dissed the country's BJK team and barely a month goes by where we're not hearing something about an injury. 

 

At some point, if she is going to carry on in tennis, she is going to have to swallow her pride and step down to the WTA 125K events and go on to the ITF circuit. It might not be as glamourous as the main tour, but there should certainly be no shame in getting a decent foundation of matches under your belt. 

[Makedonas 1,595]

11 hours ago, Monzanator said:

She will be out of Top 100 after Madrid and Jodie Burrage (who basically mostly plays ITF events) is the new number 1

Are you sure? My live rankings app shows that Raducanu is 101 and Burrage is 106.

 

Regardless, it is crazy that a country like Great Britain (which hosts a Grand Slam, has a strong federation, tennis history, and a large population) will not have any women in the top 100. Has this ever happened before?

 

I know Australia's only current top 100 women's player is Ajla Tomljanovic, who literally has no connection with Australia other than the money they gave her, and is basically a mercenary.

 

Pretty fascinating that countries like Montenegro even have top 100 players but not Great Britain. Just shows you that money can't buy success (though in Australia's case it is kind of true because they bought Tomljanovic who is by far their highest ranked women's player even though she hasn't even played yet in 2023). And don't get me started on Kazakhstan and their sportswashing propaganda via tennis...

 

9 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

I'm actually a fan of Raducanu - she was a breath of fresh air for British women's tennis which had been in a bit of a rut despite the best efforts of Baltacha, Konta, Watson and Robson - but she is frustrating and the novelty is beginning to wear off a bit.  

 

Whoever has been acting as her advisors since winning the US Open have done her a real disservice. She has barely been able to string 2 wins together, she's gone through coaches like they are disposable tissues, she dissed the country's BJK team and barely a month goes by where we're not hearing something about an injury. 

 

At some point, if she is going to carry on in tennis, she is going to have to swallow her pride and step down to the WTA 125K events and go on to the ITF circuit. It might not be as glamourous as the main tour, but there should certainly be no shame in getting a decent foundation of matches under your belt. 

Very well said.

 

I've noticed this trend with these "marketable" players from western countries/the Anglosphere. It seems like they make so much money and get caught up in the glamourous lifestyle and then lose motivation easily (Raducanu, Osaka, even Anisimova and Stephens). Very different from the likes of Swiatek and Sabalenka who are seen as "unmarketable" and work way harder and probably deserve more media attention based on results, but they were not born in the right countries for the media and sponsors to care about. Eastern European success is seen as not "trendy" enough for some...

[Monzanator 3,600]

100% spot on with the glamorous lifestyle for Western hemisphere players. They are being flocked with money the minute they win something and quickly lose motivation. That's rarely the case for players from Eastern Europe who have to grind through without getting even 10% of the endorsements even if they win more tournaments. But then comes someone like Świątek whose run of success is simply unavoidable and the big brands can't ignore her for any longer. Even Rybakina finally got a Center Court appearance in Miami from Round 1. Previously she was always shafted to outside courts in early rounds while usually the main courts were for Anglo-Saxon players. But Miami director James Blake finally gave in and decided to put Rybakina in night session on CC in Round 1. That's the first time it happened IIRC. Yes, even a shy Russian with Kazakh passport can be marketed based on her success. Bottom line, three of the best players this season come from Eastern Europe.

 

Back to Madrid and 15 yo Mirra Andreeva upset Beatriz Haddad Maia in Round 2. She will turn 16 on Saturday when she plays her R3 match vs Linette or Vondrousova.

[Makedonas 1,595]

On 4/27/2023 at 9:35 AM, Monzanator said:

Back to Madrid and 15 yo Mirra Andreeva upset Beatriz Haddad Maia in Round 2. She will turn 16 on Saturday when she plays her R3 match vs Linette or Vondrousova.

She beat Linette 6-3 6-3 

 

Also, I was thinking to say it the other day when we were discussing Raducanu, but I think Gauff isn't anywhere near as good as she is hyped to be. I think she seems motivated and has good fitness and will have a long career in the top 15-20, but I don't think she will be contending for big titles. It seems that she always loses against the first strong opponent she has to play, and if you look at her draws she always gets kind of lucky to make it so far in the tournaments where she did well to begin with.

[Monzanator 3,600]

Gauff's FH is absolutely tragic. Just got blasted by Paula Badosa 6-3 6-0 making 37 UE in 15 games. Gauff can beat the lower ranked players but the minute she faces someone from the upper levels she loses and usually loses badly. If she won't fix that FH she is never going to win anything above 250 level.

 

Maria Sakkari plays Rebeka Masarova in the evening, the winner of that match plays Badosa in R4.

[thepharoah 2,290]

Mayar Sherif defeated Garcia 2-0 and reached R4 in Madrid 

[thepharoah 2,290]

Fairy tale continues Mayar Sherif to quarter finals 

[thepharoah 2,290]

 

Mayar is diffinetely having fun in Spain her home right now as she's living there for 3 years 

[Rafa Maciel 1,261]

Emma Raducanu's season could be over as she is undergoing surgery on both her wrists.

 

F she's sensible, she wont try to rush back for the hard court season and instead, take as much time off as possible to build up her strength and stamina then when she comes back in the new year, step down to the ITF WTA 100K level events to get the match experience. 

 

Would assume that she would be well placed to get invitational quota for Paris as Grand Slam champion

[Monzanator 3,600]

Emma Raducanu has had surgery on both hands and ankle and is out of Wimbledon & grass season but I expect she might not be back until USO and maybe plays one warm-up there at best. It's clear her body just isn't made for a full-time tennis career so let's see where she goes from here. It's not like the sponsors will allow her to walk away even if she loses interest because the results over the past 12 months have been brutal but her endorsements have been all about the glamour potential and not the sport anymore.