[Yaruki]

Any top player would immediately try to correct such mental lapses with the help of their mental coach.

You can't do that with a one-person team though....

 

[dontfollowtennis]

This used to happen a lot in 2022, not losing having mps but a lot of times from a winning position. But back then she had a lot going on… she was new on the tour, she was inexperienced, she had to deal with injuries and fitness issues. Right now it’s not supposed to be happening, especially losing after having mp, something that had never happened and now she’s done it back to back.

 

[Lurker79]

I thought Emma played OK in the tie break. There were some bad points for sure, but there was a lot of good stuff as well. Pegula got a bit lucky at certain points, e.g. the 2nd match point net cord. Half an inch lower and it's a totally different conversation.

But that 3rd set performance was pathetic, and some of us knew it was coming. This needs to be sorted.

One of Emma's best ever performances, and also one of her worst ever performances. All in the same match.

 

[edenstanwarr]

Players collapsing in the 3rd set isn't that unusual, even top 10 players. In the French Open, Paolini was up a set and a break against Svitolina and Paolini had 3 match points in the second set.

Svitolina came back to win 4-6 7-6 6-1, the identical score to Emma's match against Krejčíková.

Even Swiatek got bagelled by Sabalenka in the 3rd set at the French Open.

 

[dontfollowtennis]

I thought Emma played OK in the tie break. There were some bad points for sure, but there was a lot of good stuff as well. Pegula got a bit lucky at certain points, e.g. the 2nd match point net cord. Half an inch lower and it's a totally different conversation.

But that 3rd set performance was pathetic, and some of us knew it was coming. This needs to be sorted.

One of Emma's best ever performances, and also one of her worst ever performances. All in the same match.

Yeah, the problem was/is not only the tiebreak. She was playing way better, in control of the set/match, up a set and a break, 30-0 on her serve and then kind of takes the foot off the gas and allow/invites her opponent back into the match. This has to stop. She should’ve finished this match in straight sets and the tiebreak wasn’t even necessary.

 

[RossG01_]

I will say something that almost nobody here will agree with. Emma's escaped going to a decider having multiple match points or losing from match points up many times that it was always going to end badly. She's still probably carrying bad memories from her loss in Seoul as it is recent. She'll probably carry something mentally if it happens for some period. Will all of Emma's losses be from match points up from now on? Certainly not

 

[Cyclops]

Simon Briggs writes:

Emma Raducanu suffered an unpleasant case of deja vu as she saw three match points go begging for the second time in as many tournaments.

Raducanu’s run in Beijing was thus a repeat of what happened in Seoul just over a week ago: a clinical straight-sets win against an opponent she was expected to beat, followed by a devastating failure to close out her next match from a winning position.

The opponent this time was Jessica Pegula, the world No 7. Just like Barbora Krejcikova at the Korean Open, Pegula lost the first set and then found herself on the verge of defeat in a second set tie-break. Both women came up against match point on three separate occasions.

Again, though, when Raducanu had the chance to administer the coup de grace, she simply could not find the winning shot.

The frustrating thing for her camp – which on this occasion consisted of coach Francis Roig and mother Renee – was that Raducanu did not do much wrong on any of the three match points.

Emma Raducanu’s mother Renee Zhai alongside her coach Francisco Roig watched on from the sidelines Credit: Reuters/Tingshu Wang

On the first, she walloped a huge return off Pegula’s second serve, but Pegula managed to reflex the ball back up the line with a flick of her wrists.

On the second, Pegula got lucky with a backhand that ricocheted up off the net-cord. Raducanu then struck a solid approach and came forward to the net but was passed up the line again.

The third came on Raducanu’s serve, and she landed it well, but Pegula still made a deep return and then tantalised her through a slow and loopy rally until Raducanu miscued a forehand.


Then, having tiptoed back from the precipice, Pegula relaxed and started middling every ball as a demoralised Raducanu found it difficult to maintain her energy and focus. The third set got away quickly as she went down to a 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 defeat in two hours and 21 minutes.

“That was really intense,” said Pegula in her on-court interview. “I got myself back into the tie-break, and just wanted to keep the pressure on and when she hit the double-fault, I knew I was still playing good tennis. Like, it was right there. It was really, really close.

“To be honest, I think I got a little bit lucky on two of those where I hit two backhand winners, but otherwise I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.”

There was indeed a double-fault in the tie-break when Raducanu led 5-4, as well as a tentative backhand into the net to lose the previous rally, which she will probably regret more than any of the match points themselves.

Then, towards the end of the third set, she started signalling that she was struggling physically, stretching her back out and not really going for the return against a wide serve on the penultimate point.

This will be another difficult result to digest, but Raducanu needs to focus on the quality of her footwork and ball-striking in those first two sets, when she was good value for her lead.

Her many detractors will no doubt accuse her of mental weakness, but those match points against both Krejcikova and Pegula were not handed over. She could play for years without encountering two such feats of escapology in successive tournaments.

Annabel Croft, who is far from being a cheerleader, put it well on Sky Sport’s TV coverage. “It was very unfortunate and unlucky, two matches like this: it’s very unusual. To have two back to back … and I think she really played so well to go to those match points.”

Raducanu’s relationship with Roig will need to be stable if she is to get her head straight for her next scheduled event in Wuhan in a week’s time. Assuming that those late aches and pains did not signal anything significant, she needs to remember that she is making progress.

Her serve has been more penetrative in recent matches, while her net-play against Pegula showed significant improvement. And when she took the handbrake off and really went after her forehand, she was able to take charge of points against a high-quality opponent.

On the flip side, this was her ninth straight loss against a member of the world’s top 10. If she wants to accelerate her slow but steady ascent of the rankings ladder, she needs to start turning promising positions into wins.

Emma Raducanu must start turning promising positions into wins after painful China exit

Emma Raducanu suffered an unpleasant case of déjà vu as three match points went begging for the second time in as many tournaments.

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[ace22]

Simon Briggs writes:

Emma Raducanu suffered an unpleasant case of deja vu as she saw three match points go begging for the second time in as many tournaments.

Raducanu’s run in Beijing was thus a repeat of what happened in Seoul just over a week ago: a clinical straight-sets win against an opponent she was expected to beat, followed by a devastating failure to close out her next match from a winning position.

The opponent this time was Jessica Pegula, the world No 7. Just like Barbora Krejcikova at the Korean Open, Pegula lost the first set and then found herself on the verge of defeat in a second set tie-break. Both women came up against match point on three separate occasions.

Again, though, when Raducanu had the chance to administer the coup de grace, she simply could not find the winning shot.

The frustrating thing for her camp – which on this occasion consisted of coach Francis Roig and mother Renee – was that Raducanu did not do much wrong on any of the three match points.

View attachment 400149

Emma Raducanu’s mother Renee Zhai alongside her coach Francisco Roig watched on from the sidelines Credit: Reuters/Tingshu Wang

On the first, she walloped a huge return off Pegula’s second serve, but Pegula managed to reflex the ball back up the line with a flick of her wrists.

On the second, Pegula got lucky with a backhand that ricocheted up off the net-cord. Raducanu then struck a solid approach and came forward to the net but was passed up the line again.

The third came on Raducanu’s serve, and she landed it well, but Pegula still made a deep return and then tantalised her through a slow and loopy rally until Raducanu miscued a forehand.


Then, having tiptoed back from the precipice, Pegula relaxed and started middling every ball as a demoralised Raducanu found it difficult to maintain her energy and focus. The third set got away quickly as she went down to a 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 defeat in two hours and 21 minutes.

“That was really intense,” said Pegula in her on-court interview. “I got myself back into the tie-break, and just wanted to keep the pressure on and when she hit the double-fault, I knew I was still playing good tennis. Like, it was right there. It was really, really close.

“To be honest, I think I got a little bit lucky on two of those where I hit two backhand winners, but otherwise I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.”

There was indeed a double-fault in the tie-break when Raducanu led 5-4, as well as a tentative backhand into the net to lose the previous rally, which she will probably regret more than any of the match points themselves.

Then, towards the end of the third set, she started signalling that she was struggling physically, stretching her back out and not really going for the return against a wide serve on the penultimate point.

This will be another difficult result to digest, but Raducanu needs to focus on the quality of her footwork and ball-striking in those first two sets, when she was good value for her lead.

Her many detractors will no doubt accuse her of mental weakness, but those match points against both Krejcikova and Pegula were not handed over. She could play for years without encountering two such feats of escapology in successive tournaments.

Annabel Croft, who is far from being a cheerleader, put it well on Sky Sport’s TV coverage. “It was very unfortunate and unlucky, two matches like this: it’s very unusual. To have two back to back … and I think she really played so well to go to those match points.”

Raducanu’s relationship with Roig will need to be stable if she is to get her head straight for her next scheduled event in Wuhan in a week’s time. Assuming that those late aches and pains did not signal anything significant, she needs to remember that she is making progress.

Her serve has been more penetrative in recent matches, while her net-play against Pegula showed significant improvement. And when she took the handbrake off and really went after her forehand, she was able to take charge of points against a high-quality opponent.

On the flip side, this was her ninth straight loss against a member of the world’s top 10. If she wants to accelerate her slow but steady ascent of the rankings ladder, she needs to start turning promising positions into wins.

Emma Raducanu must start turning promising positions into wins after painful China exit

Emma Raducanu suffered an unpleasant case of déjà vu as three match points went begging for the second time in as many tournaments.

www.telegraph.co.uk

when Briggs is less reactionary than some posters here that might be the sign of an upcoming rapture

 

[Deejaycr]

Emma needs to take responsibility for these losses and correct her mental lapses. It was quite obvious that when things are tight she didnt believe in her shots and went in her shell and instead of winning the important points she got the exact opposite.

We can have stats about top players collapsing in third set and how Pegula and Barbie K played incredible but they all can be true at the same time as Emma not mentally brave to closed out the points. It’s not mutually exclusive.

Patting yourself on the back saying Paolini choked too, Rybakina choked too does nothing to get your player closer to the top. That’s just small player mentality.

Let it hurt, dont gloss it over, and bounce back.

 

[sirtennis]

She used to be so clutch during tiebreak like at the BJK cup last year and at the AO this year. I don’t know how she became so mentally weak.

 

[edenstanwarr]

I will say something that almost nobody here will agree with. Emma's escaped going to a decider having multiple match points or losing from match points up many times that it was always going to end badly. She's still probably carrying bad memories from her loss in Seoul as it is recent. She'll probably carry something mentally if it happens for some period. Will all of Emma's losses be from match points up from now on? Certainly not

What? The loss to Krejčíková was the first time Emma has ever lost from match point up.

 

[edenstanwarr]

Emma needs to take responsibility for these losses and correct her mental lapses. It was quite obvious that when things are tight she didnt believe in her shots and went in her shell and instead of winning the important points she got the exact opposite.

We can have stats about top players collapsing in third set and how Pegula and Barbie K played incredible but they all can be true at the same time as Emma not mentally brave to closed out the points. It’s not mutually exclusive.

Patting yourself on the back saying Paolini choked too, Rybakina choked too does nothing to get your player closer to the top. That’s just small player mentality.

Let it hurt, dont gloss it over, and bounce back.

Horseshit. Emma hit some great shots on match point and Pegula produced inspired shots to win the point. In really close matches, someone has to lose.

Emma just needs to get a little better or a little luckier and she will win these tight contests.

 

[Deejaycr]

Horseshit. Emma hit some great shots on match point and Pegula produced inspired shots to win the point. In really close matches, someone has to lose.

Emma just needs to get a little better or a little luckier and she will win these tight contests.

Thank god you’re not her coach

 

[zenga10]

Simon Briggs writes:

Emma Raducanu suffered an unpleasant case of deja vu as she saw three match points go begging for the second time in as many tournaments.

Raducanu’s run in Beijing was thus a repeat of what happened in Seoul just over a week ago: a clinical straight-sets win against an opponent she was expected to beat, followed by a devastating failure to close out her next match from a winning position.

The opponent this time was Jessica Pegula, the world No 7. Just like Barbora Krejcikova at the Korean Open, Pegula lost the first set and then found herself on the verge of defeat in a second set tie-break. Both women came up against match point on three separate occasions.

Again, though, when Raducanu had the chance to administer the coup de grace, she simply could not find the winning shot.

The frustrating thing for her camp – which on this occasion consisted of coach Francis Roig and mother Renee – was that Raducanu did not do much wrong on any of the three match points.

View attachment 400149

Emma Raducanu’s mother Renee Zhai alongside her coach Francisco Roig watched on from the sidelines Credit: Reuters/Tingshu Wang

On the first, she walloped a huge return off Pegula’s second serve, but Pegula managed to reflex the ball back up the line with a flick of her wrists.

On the second, Pegula got lucky with a backhand that ricocheted up off the net-cord. Raducanu then struck a solid approach and came forward to the net but was passed up the line again.

The third came on Raducanu’s serve, and she landed it well, but Pegula still made a deep return and then tantalised her through a slow and loopy rally until Raducanu miscued a forehand.


Then, having tiptoed back from the precipice, Pegula relaxed and started middling every ball as a demoralised Raducanu found it difficult to maintain her energy and focus. The third set got away quickly as she went down to a 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 defeat in two hours and 21 minutes.

“That was really intense,” said Pegula in her on-court interview. “I got myself back into the tie-break, and just wanted to keep the pressure on and when she hit the double-fault, I knew I was still playing good tennis. Like, it was right there. It was really, really close.

“To be honest, I think I got a little bit lucky on two of those where I hit two backhand winners, but otherwise I just tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.”

There was indeed a double-fault in the tie-break when Raducanu led 5-4, as well as a tentative backhand into the net to lose the previous rally, which she will probably regret more than any of the match points themselves.

Then, towards the end of the third set, she started signalling that she was struggling physically, stretching her back out and not really going for the return against a wide serve on the penultimate point.

This will be another difficult result to digest, but Raducanu needs to focus on the quality of her footwork and ball-striking in those first two sets, when she was good value for her lead.

Her many detractors will no doubt accuse her of mental weakness, but those match points against both Krejcikova and Pegula were not handed over. She could play for years without encountering two such feats of escapology in successive tournaments.

Annabel Croft, who is far from being a cheerleader, put it well on Sky Sport’s TV coverage. “It was very unfortunate and unlucky, two matches like this: it’s very unusual. To have two back to back … and I think she really played so well to go to those match points.”

Raducanu’s relationship with Roig will need to be stable if she is to get her head straight for her next scheduled event in Wuhan in a week’s time. Assuming that those late aches and pains did not signal anything significant, she needs to remember that she is making progress.

Her serve has been more penetrative in recent matches, while her net-play against Pegula showed significant improvement. And when she took the handbrake off and really went after her forehand, she was able to take charge of points against a high-quality opponent.

On the flip side, this was her ninth straight loss against a member of the world’s top 10. If she wants to accelerate her slow but steady ascent of the rankings ladder, she needs to start turning promising positions into wins.

Emma Raducanu must start turning promising positions into wins after painful China exit

Emma Raducanu suffered an unpleasant case of déjà vu as three match points went begging for the second time in as many tournaments.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Well if Emma was injured that's very sad to hear. That explains why she didn't try harder in the 3rd set then. I hope its not going to impact the rest of the Asian swing 🙁

 

[RossG01_]

What? The loss to Krejčíková was the first time Emma has ever lost from match point up.

Yes it was the first loss from match points up.

 

[edenstanwarr]

Yeah, the problem was/is not only the tiebreak. She was playing way better, in control of the set/match, up a set and a break, 30-0 on her serve and then kind of takes the foot off the gas and allow/invites her opponent back into the match. This has to stop. She should’ve finished this match in straight sets and the tiebreak wasn’t even necessary.

This sort of thing happens all the time. Only in fairyland does a service break guarantee that the player wins the set. Emma has won countless sets from being down a break.

People talk such nonsense.

 

[edenstanwarr]

Thank god you’re not her coach

Thank God you aren't. Your negativity would crush any player.

Anisimova's double bagel Wimbledon loss really was a choke, but the response was to rally around her and focus on the positive of having reached a Wimbledon final. It worked and she bounced back to make the US Open final, where she played much better.

 

[RossG01_]

She used to be so clutch during tiebreak like at the BJK cup last year and at the AO this year. I don’t know how she became so mentally weak.

Until the start of the 2025 clay season she was 13-2 in tiebreaks in a hot streak since then she is 2-7 in them her only 2 wins being against Lamens in Madrid and Kostyuk in Washington

 

[edenstanwarr]

when Briggs is less reactionary than some posters here that might be the sign of an upcoming rapture

Not really. Some people here always lose their minds after a loss.

 

[sirtennis]

Until the start of the 2025 clay season she was 13-2 in tiebreaks in a hot streak since then she is 2-7 in them her only 2 wins being against Lamens in Madrid and Kostyuk in Washington

The only reason I could think of is that she became less brave.