Tennis
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probably the only British female wildcard I've seen over the years who looks like she isn't a complete waste of time and money, is also on the verge on being the first WC from here to reach round 4 at Wimbledon since 98. Heard of many hyped up young flavour of the month Brits in my time but am always left nonplussed when I see them play, however, Raducanu looks different, she's actually very very good (apart from the Novak-esque overheads), ticks a lot of boxes with a high tennis IQ, very good serve, understands court positioning very well, good anticipations, forehands as sweet as a Brazil nut, moves fluidly, very speedy around court and looks mentally aggressive at all times which goes a long way in tennis, you'd think that was par for the course but many players lack the basics, see Watson, doesn't take much to make her wilt. Wouldn't put it past Emma to beat Sorana but she's on court 1, the biggest stage she's ever played on, one caveat at present is Sears said she froze against Dart on centre court in Nottingham and v Swatek on court 2 at Junior Wimbledon so maybe worth a lay if that's the case at this point in time or for the first set at least, got a bit anxious v Vondrousova as well hitting a some df's......but once she shakes of the big stage nerves, she's definitely got the game and mindset to go all the way, and she's English 
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High praise indeed, backed up by a similar opinion expressed by John Lloyd on BBC Breakfast this morning.
Wait a minute, you're not, are you  |
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She might be "English" by law, but there's no English in her DNA, which probably explains her talent
and her gorgeous looks  Mum and daughter both stunning https://www.instagram.com/p/B9SJaoKAOW_/ |
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Yes and non of the so called tennis pros on the forum flagges her up before wimbers. Tut tut tut. Does look some a talent tho just hope she isnt another Laura Robson flash in ze pan type but she doesnt have that vibe about her, quite the opposite actually.
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Aaron Hatch would have flagged her up. Shame he has gone into obscurity just like his Wo0lves
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She has taken the first set against Cirstea.
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Emma looks very composed, covers the court like a doubles pair and made some amazing shots yesterday.
It was always a shame about Laura Robson's injuries, she looked like the best for years. Konta seems to be in and out. |
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2. She made her WTA main-draw debut in Nottingham ... last month
Raducanu is playing just her second tour-level event. She made her debut last month at the Viking Open Nottingham as a wildcard, losing to her compatriot Harriet Dart 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. The following week, she played the ITF 100K in Nottingham and made the quarterfinals, beating Storm Sanders and Timea Babos in straight sets before losing to Tsvetana Pironkova. taken from wtatennis.com Bearing in mind that, until last week, she had only played one day on the main draw, and lost the match, I think next week will be a step to far for her and 29.0 to win the whole thing is poor value. |
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Tomljanovic is beatable, she is well spoken, and I've always criticised the LTA for recruiting super posh kids from middle class backgrounds who are too posh to push when the going gets tough, literally dozens of past examples who have all wasted wildcards, where really they should be brining along tougher working classes with more stomach for the fight, b not used to luxury, always feeling they are going to go back to where they came from no matter how successful, so they keep fighting, sort of thing. But unfortunately Tennis in Britain is still a kinda niche minority sport, when Wimbledon pastes away, doesn't get much mainstream coverage and the system is still classists, Murray a rare exception, remember his breakthrough, pompous journos's hated him, spoiled and foul mouthed they called him, classists.
But she does seem made of sterner stuff, even if her parents 'are in finance', and I like her game either way. |
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media needs to calm down. she has won 3 matches......long way to go to becoming a top 10 player.
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Had Breathing Problems , so sat down and put a mask on
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Didn't realise masks stopped you breathing. Who knew ?
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did mention in the first post that she had suffered from stage fright a couple of times before, but it really could have been avoided
the scheduling was so dumb, putting her on last after a potential 5 setter between Zverev a F-A-A, can you imagine the levels of anxiousness she was feeling waiting all day long for that, to give her the best chance she should have bee allowed to have gone under the radar, put on outside courts, during the middle of the day, lessen the pressure, but Wimbledon in their wisdom decided to try and cash in on her new found fame. she should have been allowed to have gradually got used to the attention and increased media workload. will be back next year with a lot of experience and better prepared. |
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Tbf, the organisers can't win.
Put her on early & she wins easily then people would be moaning that they should've had her on later when more could've watched. |
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Looks the real deal imo.
Very easy to lose focus after the 1st set bagel but no, kept the pressure on & unlucky not to get a double. And to think, Heather Watson is 0-10 at USO. |
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I think Bencic will and should win at this juncture of their careers but what separates Raducanu from the long list of plucky Brits over the years is that she appears to have the minerals to fight from the off and when the going gets tough, which is not usually the case with other plummy voiced players from this country, she will need that to compensate for not have the biggest of games. Watson is 10 years older than her but she's never made the second week of a slam. Will learn more from the Bencic match though than the previous 7 she's had here as none of them were anywhere near the calibre of Belinda. Never seen her play on clay yet incidentally. Think some are getting carried away with multiple slam predictions, don't think any player over the next 10 years is going to win more than 5 other than Osaka, she can win one though and consistently challenge, unlike the flaky Ostapenko who has regressed since winning the French Open from nowhere, not been able to win more than 2 matches in a row at a slam in 3 years.
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I keep expecting a repeat of her Wimbledon meltdown at some point but her record of games lost at this stage has only ever been beaten by Serena Williams. Punters (I have not had any bets on this) and pundits seem to forget that it is effectively 2 years worth of improvements that we are witnessing and the win by Fernandez is another example of underestimating this progress by younger players. Will Raducanu and Fernandez be the dominant women players by this time next year? With Barty, Halep, Muguruza and many other ex champions falling by the wayside, the tournament is still wide open.
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Will Raducanu and Fernandez be the dominant women players by this time next year? No.
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Early days but the signs are looking good.
Will be interesting to see how she fares when she's expected to win rather than being the underdog. |
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Hope I’m wrong, but surely the end of the road tonight. A great run from a favourable draw and clearly a player with a lot of potential. Especially good to see her come back from the disappointment of Wimbledon.
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I know I have a low quality video feed, but I can see a cold sore on Emma's upper lip..
If she is sickening for something, I can't see her making the final. |
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Bencic was awful, if I were Raducanu I'd want Pliskova next rather than Sakkari.
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been listening to the qf on bbc radio ... they were saying even when she was leading 5-4 in the 2nd set that if the score was reversed at that stage she should be proud of her achievement ... boll0cks .. she would be gutted which is natural & its defeatist to be happy with gallant failure ... lets see her go on to win the trophy to emphasise if you are good enough then you are old enough
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Well done Emma. It’s very encouraging to see that her play reduce an Olympic Champion/experienced Gand Slam participant to tatters.
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If I was an Emma outright backer, I'd want to avoid the other youngster in the final, for exactly those reasons.
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been layed at 500...painful for someone if she wins
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Her next match will be a massive test of nerves.
At Wimbledon she was chugging along on the outside courts for the first couple of rounds, then court 1 v SoranaGoat, but after being on a showcourt and becoming the first Brit wildcard through to the 4th for over 20 years, the media attention was ramped up 10 fold, she was then put back on the same court only this time at peak hour, 8pm, previous matches were all 12-6 start times, the full crowd, the newfound attention, the lights, the expectation, the pressure, was too much for her. Now at the US Open it could potentially repeat itself, so far she's had afternoon starts only, no night matches, semi's the last 5 years are always at peak hour, top half of the draw usually scheduled second on court (unless Serena is playing and she makes a request and they oblige), that's not good, all that waiting around to start a match around 9.30+ on the biggest court in the world in front of a full crowd and knowing who your opponent would be if you made it to the final. That's some experience for an 18 year old. On the flip side, the Wimbledon experience could have stood her in good stead for this kind of occasion, only one way to find out. If that's not an issue, I actually think she'd beat Pliskova for the same reasons she struggles against Halep, but Sakkari is a more difficult match up. |
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Delighted for her. Plays with such enjoyment and seems to be getting better.
Tough semi, but all four girls are in unchartered territory with no previous Grand Slam finalists left in the field. Not a betting medium for me. Good luck Emma... |
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Slower night conditions will suit Sakkari more as she's played a few rounds at night and Radu hasn't yet.
Questions about Radu physically esp if it goes to a 3rd or even 2 long sets and given the physical strength of Sakkari. Questions about both mentally. Radu didn't handle the pressure well at Wimbledon as Mes has said and Sakkari is a mental basket-case and has lost something like her last 7 SFs, had MPs in some of them, and could beat herself. Very hard to call. Can see both winning in 2 or choking in a 3rd. That type of match. Hope Raducanu wins in straights. Don't really like Sakkari. The media seem to give her too much credit as a beast of a player when she's mentally weak and hasn't won anything big. Very noisy too and looks like a bloke, unnatural look to her. |
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Would be hard to find a woman player who isn't weak mentally.
It's not as if Radu is up a mental equivalent of a Rafa or Novak. Even the so-called goat Serena has been weak mentally on numerous occasions. |
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Sharapova probably the strongest mentally
perhaps the only really strong female in my time of watching didn't bet on tennis when Graf, Hingis, Seles, navaratliova etc were playing |
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*up against
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Sharapova strong mentally but also drug assisted.
Also used her grunting as a tactic imo. |
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also played half her career with a damaged shoulder and couldn't serve properly
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they're all carrying injuries
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What time is the match starting?
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1st semi on at midnight then Radu after so could be 2-3am
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sonts will getting his first semi around 2am so
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Sharapova? stop giving me bodies to lust over
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