TENNIS: Nottingham Open 2024
Jun. 17th, 2024 07:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllAfter having been distracted by the European Athletics Championship, I got to watch some liveish tennis for the first time this year! I joined Katie Boulter v Magdalena Frech’s quarter final after the restart, with Frech in the unenviable position of facing a break point while already being down a game in the first set. Boulter (defending champion, big serve, big forehand, and to her credit has spent the last year getting to world no. 30, which means being a seed at Wimbledon, I think) won the first set. But Frech had a better time serving in the first game of the second set, and helped by a few too many double faults, broke. Boulter responded really well, and there were flashes of very good play (totally different rhythm to clay-court tennis). She won handily in two, and then it rained again. I saw Francesca Jones and Emma Raducanu warm up for their quarter final, but they were rained off. I don’t know if they got a chance to play much later in the night. Given the weather this unseasonable June, this English grass court season might be tough.
On what should have been semi-final Saturday, I saw the first chunk of top seed Ons Jabeur vs. Karolina Pliskova, the number 6 seed here, playing their quarter final. Both are good grass-court players, with both having won tournaments on the surface and been runner-up at Wimbledon, and both bearing the scars. I made Jabeur favourite, as she is top 10 right now and in a better place career wise than Pliskova (a former world no. 1, yes, but one of those who never won a slam), and at first it seemed that her ability to improvise would be a boon. Jabeur had more winners, but Pliskova hung in there, and in the tiebreak, Jabeur did have more set points, one of which was on her serve. But Pliskova took hers, granted, with a kind net cord.
But she seemed to have got into her groove and was showing off her grass-court pedigree, winning her service games a little easier. And then at the business end of the set, there was talk of rain, foreboding grey skies and the crowd putting on their jackets.
After an hour-long rain delay, Jabeur would be serving in a must-win game, which she managed to win and played the better tiebreak. But the third set saw switches in momentum, with Jabeur’s level dropping, Pliskova’s rising, then vice-versa, but then Pliskova came back to win in three. It sounded as though she’d be facing Diane Perry in the semi.
Next an intriguing match-up against Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, the first time I’ve seen the latter play for ages. She’d got through the last round as a walkover. Boulter’s serve and forehand were shown off, Raducanu’s movement and quality shone. The tiebreak featured two double faults from Boulter, two slips from Raducanu and a ridiculous number of set points. But Raducanu had Boulter in the final point. Due to the slippery grass, they suspended play for the day.
Sunday opened with the Karolina Pliskova v Diane Perry semi, presumably because they might play three sets and the other semi could only last two, and the final would have to be played later. You could see why Perry (only ranked 10 below Pliskova, but over a decade younger and with the gulf in experience) had got through. Still, as the first set went on, Pliskova’s weight of shot and ease in winning service games told, until she played a terrible game serving for the set and let Perry back in. The younger Frenchwoman won the tiebreak. This galvanised Pliskova (even if she always looks laidback, however fast she’s running, however hard she’s hitting.) She won the second set easily. But Parry had got a break at the start of the third.
I took a break, and when I returned to the feed, they’d only gone and put the names of the finalists up, so I was rather spoiled. I dipped back into the end of the first semi final, where Pliskova had regained the break, and eventually won.
I dipped in and out of the other semi-final, where Raducanu had some tape on her leg after slipping the night before. She fought well, but Boulter had seemed to realise that the more aggressively she played, the better. She was playing with more consistency, and pretty good whenever she came in. She won the two sets and would be in the final. That’s the British no. 1’s first WTA level match and win against the British no. 6, except, of course, said British no. 6 is Raducanu, coming back from that extraordinary run in her first season and the brutal injuries since.
I was battling with sleep at this point, so I can’t say I followed the final closely. Boulter got the first break but lost it, and so Pliskova won the second set, but the story of the next two sets was Pliskova’s second serve dropping off and Boulter making the most of it. She imposed her will on the match and as a result, defended her title, so well done her. (She and Pliskova had won two matches apiece against each other, with this, Boulter leads her three matches to two, and all her wins have been on grass.) It’s only the first English grass-court tournament, and the field were people who wanted more time on grass, which is not to downplay Jabeur and Pliskova’s pedigree, and Brits, so it doesn’t tell us too much about what lies ahead. Also, I know there was a men’s Challengers level tour on at the same time, but I ignored it.
On what should have been semi-final Saturday, I saw the first chunk of top seed Ons Jabeur vs. Karolina Pliskova, the number 6 seed here, playing their quarter final. Both are good grass-court players, with both having won tournaments on the surface and been runner-up at Wimbledon, and both bearing the scars. I made Jabeur favourite, as she is top 10 right now and in a better place career wise than Pliskova (a former world no. 1, yes, but one of those who never won a slam), and at first it seemed that her ability to improvise would be a boon. Jabeur had more winners, but Pliskova hung in there, and in the tiebreak, Jabeur did have more set points, one of which was on her serve. But Pliskova took hers, granted, with a kind net cord.
But she seemed to have got into her groove and was showing off her grass-court pedigree, winning her service games a little easier. And then at the business end of the set, there was talk of rain, foreboding grey skies and the crowd putting on their jackets.
After an hour-long rain delay, Jabeur would be serving in a must-win game, which she managed to win and played the better tiebreak. But the third set saw switches in momentum, with Jabeur’s level dropping, Pliskova’s rising, then vice-versa, but then Pliskova came back to win in three. It sounded as though she’d be facing Diane Perry in the semi.
Next an intriguing match-up against Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, the first time I’ve seen the latter play for ages. She’d got through the last round as a walkover. Boulter’s serve and forehand were shown off, Raducanu’s movement and quality shone. The tiebreak featured two double faults from Boulter, two slips from Raducanu and a ridiculous number of set points. But Raducanu had Boulter in the final point. Due to the slippery grass, they suspended play for the day.
Sunday opened with the Karolina Pliskova v Diane Perry semi, presumably because they might play three sets and the other semi could only last two, and the final would have to be played later. You could see why Perry (only ranked 10 below Pliskova, but over a decade younger and with the gulf in experience) had got through. Still, as the first set went on, Pliskova’s weight of shot and ease in winning service games told, until she played a terrible game serving for the set and let Perry back in. The younger Frenchwoman won the tiebreak. This galvanised Pliskova (even if she always looks laidback, however fast she’s running, however hard she’s hitting.) She won the second set easily. But Parry had got a break at the start of the third.
I took a break, and when I returned to the feed, they’d only gone and put the names of the finalists up, so I was rather spoiled. I dipped back into the end of the first semi final, where Pliskova had regained the break, and eventually won.
I dipped in and out of the other semi-final, where Raducanu had some tape on her leg after slipping the night before. She fought well, but Boulter had seemed to realise that the more aggressively she played, the better. She was playing with more consistency, and pretty good whenever she came in. She won the two sets and would be in the final. That’s the British no. 1’s first WTA level match and win against the British no. 6, except, of course, said British no. 6 is Raducanu, coming back from that extraordinary run in her first season and the brutal injuries since.
I was battling with sleep at this point, so I can’t say I followed the final closely. Boulter got the first break but lost it, and so Pliskova won the second set, but the story of the next two sets was Pliskova’s second serve dropping off and Boulter making the most of it. She imposed her will on the match and as a result, defended her title, so well done her. (She and Pliskova had won two matches apiece against each other, with this, Boulter leads her three matches to two, and all her wins have been on grass.) It’s only the first English grass-court tournament, and the field were people who wanted more time on grass, which is not to downplay Jabeur and Pliskova’s pedigree, and Brits, so it doesn’t tell us too much about what lies ahead. Also, I know there was a men’s Challengers level tour on at the same time, but I ignored it.
