New number 1. Former number 1. A match made in heaven. Or my dreams. Or Beijing. Or my pants. Not important.
I need to start with an apology. Being back at school, having a ton of stuff to do, and then trying to watch tennis when I’m supposed to be getting precious (often little) sleep is a hell of a task to ask. So I haven’t watched much tennis. I’m pretty excited for tennis to return to Europe and a much more manageable time difference for me.
Anyway, it was damn good to see Ana playing like that. I think it would be easy to say that “she hasn’t been playing aggressively and she finally is.” I think she’s been playing aggressively at points, and missing, and then holding back, at least for a lot of this season. It’s caused frustration and then caution. Now she’e letting it rip and earlier, and it’s working.
Still a tough task when you come up against the brick wall that is Caro, and on such a fast surface you’ve got to let it rip early or else she’ll just simply outlast you. Ana’s serve wasn’t particularly magical either, which didn’t exactly help.
Regardless, Ana has put herself in position to be seeded come the AO and you’ve got to feel that if she can get some actual consistency going (which seems more and more likely) that it might actually be a slam worth looking forward to if you’re an Ana fan. All aboard!
Both players were great in the 1st set. Very high quality of tennis. It was unfortunate that Ana had to lose it playing so well. I think losing that 1st set took the wind out of her sails which is the reason why her level of play dropped in the 2nd set. There was a noticeable different look on her face. In the 1st set, she looked confident. In the 2nd set, she had the look as if she had just let a golden opportunity slip away and I think she beated herself up a little bit too much because of it. She had her opportunities to get back in it, but came up a little short.
All in all, this was a great tournament for Ana. Didn’t expect her to get past Bartoli in the 1st round. She won that match fairly easily and proceeded to bagel Govortsova and come back from a double break down to beat her in the 2nd set. Then took out Elena Dementieva tin straights set, showing lots of mental toughness in both tiebreaks. Ana’s game is coming together and it’s only a matter of time until she is a serious contended on the WTA tour. She just needs to find a little more consistency, especially on her serve. But she’s getting there.
Finishing the season in the top 30 and being seeded for AO was the goal I had for Ana since her big ranking drop after Indian Wells. Mission accomplished. Hope she can make a deep run in Luxembourg and possibly win the title. 2011 should be very exciting! Very much looking forward to seeing Ana progress even more and get back to an elite level! Ajde
Agree with Curtis, she knew she had let a good oppurtunity slip and I don’t think she could let that go. But in that first set she played really well, it was great tennis from both. Great tournament, totally defied my expectations with her mental strength in coming back from breaks down and toughing it out in the tiebreaks, I didn’t even think she would beat Bartoli.
2010 has ended so well and I think 2011 will be a great year for Ana!!! Ajde!!!