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The picks at Roland Garros: Wednesday, June 7

June 6, 2023 by
Casper Ruud

Ons Jabeur over Beatriz Haddad Maia
The Brazilian has changed a few interesting tactics over the past year. Haddad Maia beat a number of the very good players. She can throw in some deep shots, with her spin and her slice. As she says that, “I think I had a very tough draw. I had to push myself.”

Yes, she does. However, Jabeur is more mature, even though in the matches, she can over think. She does have an incredible top spin, and she can also mix it up a lot, but at times, she isn’t hitting hard enough. She has to play if she is playing great, or mediocre, with everyone. “I have learned a lot how to accept things, either good or bad. For me, being injured was part of my path, how the season would have started here this year. I worked a lot on my mental health and worked a lot on how to manage all this, because I believe there is a lot of injuries are connected to our emotional part,” Jabeur said. “I’m trying to manage that.”

Over the past 10 days, she really does. It will be a very long match on the slick clay, and in the third set, Jabeur will win it with some eye-popping drop shots.

Iga Swiatek over Coco Gauff
At the 2021 Roland Garros in the final, Swiatek wiped Gauff in two easy sets. In the quarters on Wednesday, the American is going to have to play substantially better, especially with her up and down forehand. Her backhand is so solid, and strong, and at the net, she can put it away, many times. However, her second serve is so-so, and her return is OK, but not great, which is why she has never won a major yet. But she really wants to stun Swiatek.

“I guess the revisiting part for like the mentality, it’s in the past. In a positive way, not like I lost in the final, I don’t want to think about it,” Gauff said. “It’s more so I don’t want to make the final my biggest accomplishment, I guess. I want to keep moving forward and keep reaching further heights.”

Gauff will have a huge shot to upset Swiatek, as the Polish person is playing amazing again. She has not had a great year, but week after week, she makes another effort. She still thinks that she will jump it early, and go down the lives. Swiatek will once again beat her in three impressive sets.
 
Alexander Zverev over Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Frequently, the players can rise almost out of nowhere, but they do, and know that Martin Etcheverry is playing and incredible tennis. He is pretty young, so the Argentine has pushed with his forehand and his backhand. He is not very comfortable at the net, or his serve, too, but he is improving. As he said: “I have a lot of emotion right now. I think I am really, really happy. The best moment of my life,” he said.

He has to try to chop down versus Zverev. The German look better each day, and his forehand and his backhand are huge. Yes to beat Zverev, Martin Etcheverry is going to need more than 100 percent.
 
“I think he has a lot of more experience than me, but I feel really good to play against him. I am playing incredible tennis this week, and just I have to focus in my game and trying to do the same like I am doing all the day,” Martin Etcheverry said.

He might, but Zverev will hit him forehand to forehand, crosscourt, and he will win in three tough sets.

Casper Ruud over Holger Rune
He did win amazing match with Rune when he edged Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(7) in the fifth set. That wasn’t a stunner, but it was so close and his backhand was more than consistent. He has yet to win Roland Garros, but the smart player can really mix it around, and also he can smash his forehand. However, when he gets inside the court on Wednesday, he must be somewhat tired if it goes on for than three hours.

Ruud clearly know that, then during in the rallies, he can just sit on the baseline and wait for a decent chance into the corners. Ruud is pretty smart, and he can attack when it is right there.

The Norwegian seems to think that he is coming closer to beat anyone. Last year, he could not beat against the best players, at the Slams, but now he is coming close. Ruud will hit some fun drop shots, and he will win it in four exhausting sets.

Matt’s yesterday picks

Correct: Aryna Sabalenka over Elina Svitolina
Correct: Novak Djokovic over Karen Khachanov
Correct: Carlos Alcaraz over Stefanos Tsitsipas
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova over Karolina Muchova

Matt’s picks from Roland Garros

29 out of 40, 72.5% correct

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TennisReporters.net’s top 32 in 2022: women 15-11

December 22, 2022 by
Belinda Bencic
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

No. 15: Beatriz Haddad Maia
The Brazilian finally became more thoughtful, and also, more fierce, on court. In Toronto, she upset the No. 1 Iga Świątek, Belinda Bencic and Karolina Pliskova until she lost in the final against Simon Halep. That was a revenge factor by Halep, as Haddad Maia beat her on the grass in Birmingham. Halep can be damn steady. Haddad Maia can stay in long rallies and she can mix it up as well, especially on the grass,as she won Nottingham. What is pretty odd is that when she first started to play in South America, there were not many grass courts but she learned how to play on all surfaces. Almost a year ago she was ranked No. 115, and now she is in the top 15. That is a huge jump. She does scramble, and she can also try to leap on the lines. Next year though, when she plays the Grand Slams, she has to push herself as she has yet to reach a third round. In 2023, if she wants to be a force at the Slams she needs to reach the second week. Then, if she does, she can really smile.
 
No. 14: Danielle Collins
The American is so intense on court. She aims deep to the backcourt, and she strokes are so effective. When she is locked in, then she can immediately hit winners. Yes, she has won some wonderful matches, but she has lost against the very important players. Sure, she can be uptight in close matches. However, in January at the Australian Open, she beat the No. 1 Świątek in the semis. Unfortunately for Collins, Ash Barty beat her in the final, and then the Aussie retired. Collins does not love the clay, but on hard courts she is pretty good. Next year, the 29-year-old has to be more fit, improve her serves and net game. Without a doubt, she wants to win a Grand Slam, one day, so she has to seize the day.

No. 13: Paula Badosa
In 2021, she came alive, and she won some astonishing matches. But this year, she shuddered, and she did not reach any finals. In fact, she only advanced to semis twice. She could not out-hit the very good opponents. She can run really fast and she can be creative. On the other hand she does not hit the balls deep enough and other people can smash at her. The odd thing was last year, when she won Indian Wells, she downed Coco Gauff, Barbora Krejcikova, Angelique Kerber, Ons Jabeur and Victoria Azarenka. That was her best two weeks ever. Also, she won a bunch of important matches, starting 2022 ranked No. 10. She was on fire and she had so much confidence. Throughout the year she stalled and was totally unfulfilled. Next year, she can try to reset and use more strategy.

No. 12: Belinda Bencic
There have been years that the Swiss was prepared to win a Grand Slam. Before she became hurt, the big hitter won Toronto in 2015, and it appeared that she was going way up the top of the charts. She has had some terrific days, such as when she won the Olympics in 2021, yet she has only won six events, which are good, but not outstanding by any means. This year, she won Charleston, beating Keys, Badosa and Jabeur. That was stellar, and it looked like she would rise again. She has her strong legs, and she slaps the ball, but when she is playing a lot, she folds. She reached the final in Berlin, which was just a big step, but she can lose when it is so close. At the end of the year she lead Switzerland to victory in the ITF BJK Cup Final. Now, next year, if she stays with her strokes, then she can win another couple events. But at the Slams? She has to proof it.

No. 11: Madison Keys
The American hits so many winners crosscourt, down the line and when she returns. She has gone super deep over the years at the Grand Slams, such as getting to the US Open final, and the semis at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. She was right there, but she has had so many injuries, and she had to stop. Yes, she loves to play, but on court now, she does not run fast enough. She has won “just” six titles, and she started in the WTA Tour 10 years ago. She is a pleasant person. In 2023, if she wants to reach the top 5, then she will have find a way to succeed at the net. She has to throw in some slices. To win a huge event, she cannot play the same style over and over.

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Will Naomi Osaka rise again? ‘I think life is ups and downs’

September 22, 2022 by
Naomi Osaka
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

It’s fall now and many players have been slowed down with injuries. But, there are more than a few who want to finish the top 20, or even the top 10.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka withdrew from the Toray Pan Pacific Open, continuing her injury-plagued season. “I think, of course, the year has been not the best year for me but I think overall I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’m happy to be healthy because in Europe I did injure myself and that was the first injury that took me that long to get healed.
I think life is ups and downs.”

It sure is. She is ranked No. 48, and next week, she will go down even further. She has no chance to reach the final eight in the WTA Finals at the Guadalajara Open in Mexico.

But, next year, she can reset, get ready to really focus again and not worry about defending previous wins. Of course, she has beaten everyone, and she is a gigantic hitter. Her serve, forehand and backhand are huge. Lately, she was not comfortable. If she wants to grind back into the top 10 in 2023, then she needs to be happy — rather than being so negative — she can win a Grand Slam and many other tournaments. But will she get there? Does anyone really know? As she said, she is up and down.

Here is a big positive: Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia is ranked No. 16. If she wins in Tokyo and San Diego, then she does have a small chance to make the top 8. However, even if she does not, she will still have a  wonderful year. The 26-year-old decided to play more aggressively, to move it around and push herself. Six weeks ago, she made it to the final in Toronto, upsetting Leylah Fernandez. Then she shocked the No. 1 Iga Świątek. On the hardcourts she put down the steady Belinda Bencic and then she outhit Karolina Pliskova. Finally, she lost against the two-time champ Simona Halep in three close sets. She hit a big milestone

“I think the moment that I played my best tennis was when I didn’t have a lot of expectation. Sometimes … we create things that don’t exist in our mind,” she said.

NOTES
Andy Murray may or may not play in the Davis Cup next year, but the three-time Grand Slam champion thinks that the other players have improved a lot this year. Three Brits – Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Joe Salisbury – have moved up the ladder. When the 35-years-old retires, they will continue to grow.

“Obviously when you get to my age and this stage of your career, I don’t know how many opportunities I’ll get to still be part of this team. We’ve got obviously a lot of depth now in the singles and the doubles,” Murray said. “Because of that, it makes it tougher.”

They cannot advance on the Davis Cup in November. Murray says that instead of returning to three-out-of-five sets instead of the new two-out-of-three format.

“Obviously each tie, with it being best-of-three as well, it’s probably in some ways a bit more intense, the matches, and there’s less sort of room for error. I’m not saying we would have won all the matches had it been best-of-five, but you have more of an opportunity to come back into the matches,” Murray said.

“If you’re playing well, the longer the match is going, the better that is going to be for you. It is different in terms of atmosphere and everything… It’s just a little bit different because of the best-of-three format.”

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