2015 French Open SF: Safarova vs. Ivanovic

[kskate2]

Lucie leads the series 5-3

http://www.wtatennis.com/head2head/player1/10999/player2/9869

They've met twice at RG, splitting those matches in straight sets. Lucie won the most recent clay meeting at last year's FO. Ana took the last HC meeting in the QF of Tokyo 2014. Roland Garros 2008 is Ana's maiden and only slam. Lucie has been to one slam SF previously: 2014 Wimby losing to Kvitova.

Who ya got?

vs.

 

[golds girl]

I'll bite...these are two heady head-cases in these two which makes this hard.
I'm going for Lucie in 3. If the serve is clicking I think she might get the win. I can't rely on Ana's wayward toss...

 

[tented]

I'm going with Ana in 3.

 

[rubydo]

I'll go for Anna in 3. If her toss is not working then Lucie will "toss" her out of FO!

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I will go wih Safarova! She seems very confident and has nothing to lose in this scenario.

 

[Moose]

I'll bite...these are two heady head-cases in these two which makes this hard.
I'm going for Lucie in 3. If the serve is clicking I think she might get the win. I can't rely on Ana's wayward toss...

I think Lucie has worked incredibly hard to vanquish the "head case" albatross. This is her 2nd Slam SF in the last four (Wimby '14), and that is from someone who never reached the Top 10 (until next week, that is).

I love both of these women. Whoever wins, I'm delighted to have someone to loudly cheer for come Saturday's final.

I went Lucie in 3. I think Ana struggles against lefties, and I think Lucie is just a little more battle tested (and hungry for wins).

 

[kskate2]

Lucie in 3. She gobbles up pace and redirects it like nobody's business. She did it to Maria and Mugu. She will do it to Ana as well.

 

[tossip]

Lucie looks more like she will win ..

 

[HawkEye]

I'll go with Lucie in straights. She hasn't lost a set here yet. She is in terrific form.

 

[Moose]

Serious question....

Lucie plays doubles today, and with Mattek-Sands, takes out the #1 seed Hingis/Mirza (BTW, props to these two, after winning the Aussie, they are now in the semis of the French, and this is the first season they are playing together).

Ana probably practices, trains, works with her physio and rests, in a game plan specific for the match tomorrow.

What prep would you say is better for a semifinal - playing doubles, or focusing specifically on your singles match. And had Safarova lost doubles, do you think your answer would be the same?

 

[kskate2]

Moose. Match play is the best practice when you're in a tournament. You get the best of both worlds: playing against an opponent in real-time scenario, work on serve, volley and returns. Whether you lose the match or not, you're still getting the play in. I'm sure Lucie will have a session w/ her coach where they go over the game plan and specific shots she needs to fine tune.

 

[HawkEye]

I think the answer is obvious. Focusing on the singles is better. But I still think Lucie will prevail. Bear in mind that she's won 5 of their last 6 encounters.

 

[tossip]

Lucie seems to be very sharp at this event and Ana can go into those moments when she cant serve....

 

[colleen66]

Serious question....

Lucie plays doubles today, and with Mattek-Sands, takes out the #1 seed Hingis/Mirza (BTW, props to these two, after winning the Aussie, they are now in the semis of the French, and this is the first season they are playing together).

Ana probably practices, trains, works with her physio and rests, in a game plan specific for the match tomorrow.

What prep would you say is better for a semifinal - playing doubles, or focusing specifically on your singles match. And had Safarova lost doubles, do you think your answer would be the same?

I always thought that playing doubles helped many players prepare for singles. When they were younger, doubles play helped the Williams sisters in their singles matches. With both ladies in their almost mid 30's focucing on singles should come first.

 

[Moose]

Serious question....

Lucie plays doubles today, and with Mattek-Sands, takes out the #1 seed Hingis/Mirza (BTW, props to these two, after winning the Aussie, they are now in the semis of the French, and this is the first season they are playing together).

Ana probably practices, trains, works with her physio and rests, in a game plan specific for the match tomorrow.

What prep would you say is better for a semifinal - playing doubles, or focusing specifically on your singles match. And had Safarova lost doubles, do you think your answer would be the same?

I always thought that playing doubles helped many players prepare for singles. When they were younger, doubles play helped the Williams sisters in their singles matches. With both ladies in their almost mid 30's focucing on singles should come first.

I think it helps players like the Williamses. But I think back to Clijsters, who always played singles and doubles at Slams in the early part of her career - she won a couple of doubles Slams playing with Ai Sugiyama - but I always thought with Kim, that she should have been more focused on her singles matches at Slams, and that the doubles play was hurting her chances at a title.

She never played doubles at any of the 4 Slams she won, btw.

 

[10isfan]

Love both players, but hoping Safarova makes the final. She did beat Pova afterall, something I doubt Ana would have done.

 

[sk310]

I really want it to be Ana but her stats in her QF were not pretty.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Lucie is currently in good form, a leftie and has H2H advantage over Ana. Ana was in a slump coming into this tourney and no one even expected her to reach this stage. The road ends for Ana here. Lucie in 3.

 

[special700]

I have a feeling Lucy is going to take out Ana.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Lucie is in good position to be top 8 in seeding which will help her as she defends quite a few points in singles with a SF appearance at Wimbledon.