Australian Open Day 6: Saturday, Jan 18 - Order of Play

[Correspondent Kiu]

I like this Mugu, she can smack that ball, a little more accuracy and she could be top 10

Strong Serve too.

 

[golds girl]

I don't think I've ever seen Mugu play and I don't know why I thought she was cut from the same cloth of Suarez-Navarro etc...but she's tall and moves nicely...this might actually be a match then

 

[golds girl]

Wow Woz is down a double break, she has a lot of work to do to come back here. The only thing she can hope for is Mugu getting tight to close it out.

 

[Hoergren]

Well that's AO this year. Still a lot of work for team Wozniacki. Caro blew it herself in second set having 5 breakballs and didn't use them. Congrats to the Spaniard we'll see a lot more from her in the future.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Memo to Caro fans.

Caro has not reached QF for 8 slams in a row.

May be time to give up on her, if you haven't already.

Better late than never.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

great news.. wozniaki, our large foreheaded world no10 has lost. is her rank falling???????.

 

[Hoergren]

great news.. wozniaki, our large foreheaded world no10 has lost. is her rank falling???????.

Yes she falls back to #11 so hope it gives you something, I'm just a little sad. Not many things should have gone Caro's way before she'd won the match but that's tennis - you never know when the little luck is on the other side. She played actually ok but should have used her breakchances and there were too many UF. There are signs of better play but if you retire to a comfort zone as she did you don't win matches today:nono

 

[Hoergren]

Memo to Caro fans.
Caro has not reached QF for 8 slams in a row.
May be time to give up on her, if you haven't already.
Better late than never.

For once - I really think you're typing bullshit here. If you don't like her DON'T write about her. I try to be polite and write about my player but I never attack other fans players - shame on you:nono

 

[Calvy]

Not particularly surprised at the Wozniacki loss, to many player's are coming into their own maturity wise. Unfortunately, Caroline just doesn't have a finishing shot and is not as crafty or tennis smart like a Hingis or Aggie to create opportunities.

At this point, she may need to develop a viable volley, because, she's never gonna have the power to keep up.

The fact she'll be no less than 11 after the AO is perplexing, she's just not a top 15 player and hasn't been for over a year.

 

[rugged]

I am hoping that Halep and Jelena win their respective matches tonight so that they can meet. I would love to see Halep win this quarter of the draw.

On the other hand, if Zarina Diyas overcomes Halep, she'll have another go at Jankovic whom she upset some two years ago in Moscow. At that point, the commentator at Eurosport had gushed that we were seeing the birth of a new star... well, Diyas slipped after that but maybe she is now coming up for sure. Anyway, I am eager to see her play tonight.

Not familiar with her, thanks for making me aware. I will check out her game. I can catch it on espn360 replay.

But looks like I got my match-up. I hoping Halep will pull it out against Jelena. Should be an entertaining match.

 

[rugged]

Doesn't appear that any coach is going to be able to help Caro from mainly being a golden retriever. Where does she really expect this to get her. I see her ranking continuing to drop.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I am not going to write Caro off yet, these partnerships do take time. It would have benefited her to have made the change a lot sooner in her career, but she can't do anything about that now. I do think she will have an uphill battle from here on out for the rest of her career, but given a good draw and fortuitous luck anything can happen cough Wimbledon 2013 cough anyone .

 

[Calvy]

The only problem with the Wimbledon reference is, how often does an occurance like that happen, once a generation, if that.

I won't write off Caroline either, she's still young, but, their are younger players with tremendous power maturing.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

...

The fact she'll be no less than 11 after the AO is perplexing, she's just not a top 15 player and hasn't been for over a year.

The fact is 2 player ranked higher than Caro lost earlier in the first round!

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I am not going to write Caro off yet, these partnerships do take time. It would have benefited her to have made the change a lot sooner in her career, but she can't do anything about that now. I do think she will have an uphill battle from here on out for the rest of her career, but given a good draw and fortuitous luck anything can happen cough Wimbledon 2013 cough anyone .

My point in the 2013 Wimbledon reference is while I don't see anything like that happening again where the entire draw opens up for anyone who is left, portions of draws open up all the time in slams and Caro could easily find herself in that situation.

 

[colleen66]

I can't write her off yet. She has been trying to be more aggressive and come to the net a little more frequently than before. However, whenever the match gets too tight, she reverts back to her defensive ways a plays too far behind the baseline. She is waiting for her opponent to give her the error. That strategy is not working against many of these players. If she is not careful, the game will pass her by.

 

[kskate2]

I think Petra and to a larger extent Caro need to evaluate how important their relationships are. They both look unfocused and unclear about what to do on the court when their opponent doesn't play the way they were expecting. No amount of coaching changes will help a player with their focus and desire.

 

[golds girl]

I think Petra and to a larger extent Caro need to evaluate how important their relationships are. They both look unfocused and unclear about what to do on the court when their opponent doesn't play the way they were expecting. No amount of coaching changes will help a player with their focus and desire.

Hmmm...I agree with earlier posters regarding her taking instruction and trying to change the game plan, she was engaging in some sweet net play in the match prior to Mugu and I was impressed.
However, I do think her desire to play tennis has waned since hooking up with Rory and it's strange because this doesn't happen with the men, Djoker, Nadal, Berdych all have long-time girlfriends and the focus is still there. Maybe she's achieved, in her mind, all she has wanted to achieve and feels content.

Hoergren, does Caro talk about wanting to win a Slam as a specific goal? Maybe being #1 was enough?

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I don't think it is their relationships. I think it is a matter of playing catch up now for both of them with the rest of the field. They should have made changes a long time ago when their games went south. Petra angers me because it is like she just figured out she has to get her fitness better than where it is, and I am like duh you are a step slower than a lot of people out there.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Serena is really struggling with finding consistency with her serve.