[varlums2]

If Emma did it like Iga I would hate it but after 2 tough sets its ok to have that break.

 

[zenga10]

I have less of an issue with not closing out the match- that happens all the time to players, Emma played well and Pegula fought well to stay in it. What is concerning is giving up in the 3rd set, but, according to Simon Briggs, Emma was injured in the 3rd set so maybe she didn't give up, maybe her back was starting to act up as he indicated. I hope she will be ok and able to continue on the Asian swing. With Qinwen also out, injured again-yikes- that's it for Chinese and Chinese speaking players I think at this tournament.

 

[ace22]

Bathroom breaks work for Iga because she has the self confidence in her game to blame herself and will fully believe it’s always on her racket (potentially to an arrogant degree)

I don’t think Emma thinks like that, the way she plays is very geared to what she thinks the other person will do because it’s about forcing errors.

Igas game is effective but lacks variety in the way she approaches matches so it’s more about her. It’s an easier thing to resolve if you’re not so worried about the other persons momentum and just think you are playing shit

 

[dontfollowtennis]

Emma needs to learn some gamesmanship.

It happened in the match in Miami, Emma should have gone off after the second set and she didn’t. Emma may not like how it’s looks but some times you need that break.

Yeah and imo it’s not even gamesmanship going to the bathroom after a set that goes on for more than one hour

 

[dontfollowtennis]

Again how many times did she escape losing a match or going to 3 sets at least by winning needing multiple match points or even requiring to serve out a match multiple times? Let's not act like we never saw this coming before. She almost choked multiple sets meaning she could have gone to a decider and she almost choked many matches having at least one match point. To say that the loss to Krejcikova would not possibly affect her at in the very next tournament if faced with a similar scenario is simply unrealistic. All those instances of Emma needing to serve a set or a match out many times or even requiring multiple match points would have bitten her back in the end and could affect her for an undetermined period.

Yeah, I know all that, that’s why I said this is not the first time it has happened to Emma and that’s it’s not a great sign. Did you read what I wrote?
Her opponents and their teams know about that. I’ve been saying she needs to work on it for a looong time and now it’s come back to bite her. But I remember a lot of ppl saying that it happens, it’s ok, she still won the set/match…

 

[edenstanwarr]

Bathroom breaks work for Iga because she has the self confidence in her game to blame herself and will fully believe it’s always on her racket (potentially to an arrogant degree)

I don’t think Emma thinks like that, the way she plays is very geared to what she thinks the other person will do because it’s about forcing errors.

Igas game is effective but lacks variety in the way she approaches matches so it’s more about her. It’s an easier thing to resolve if you’re not so worried about the other persons momentum and just think you are playing shit

Most players take occasional bathroom breaks and Emma has done so multiple times in the past. It's a myth that it's an Iga thing.

When you are gutted at having failed to close out a match, you need time to compose yourself. Emma should have taken that time.

 

[edenstanwarr]

Yeah, I know all that, that’s why I said this is not the first time it has happened to Emma and that’s it’s not a great sign. Did you read what I wrote?
Her opponents and their teams know about that. I’ve been saying she needs to work on it for a looong time and now it’s come back to bite her. But I remember a lot of ppl saying that it happens, it’s ok, she still won the set/match…

Fact is that she has greatly improved on her ability to close out matches, which is why she hasn't lost a 1st round match since Indian Wells in March. But it's tougher to do that against top opponents, both because they play better shots in the crucial moments and because it's a bigger occasion.

As with everything, all we can ask for is progress. Emma has shown that. What we need is patience.

 

[RossG01_]

Yeah, I know all that, that’s why I said this is not the first time it has happened to Emma and that’s it’s not a great sign. Did you read what I wrote?
Her opponents and their teams know about that. I’ve been saying she needs to work on it for a looong time and now it’s come back to bite her. But I remember a lot of ppl saying that it happens, it’s ok, she still won the set/match…

She won't have learnt from it until she suffered a loss. Winning the match eventually doesn't help. Now she lost twice from MPs up now it will surely hurt her but it is about how quickly she picks herself up after these losses. She always had those long lapses on serve which were concerning sometimes extending across sets. Recently she has shown that she is getting past them but it doesn't she won't have them ever again.

 

[Lurker79]

I have less of an issue with not closing out the match- that happens all the time to players, Emma played well and Pegula fought well to stay in it. What is concerning is giving up in the 3rd set.

These are my thoughts as well. You can nitpick certain points here and there, but I thought the first two sets were the best she's played all year. On another day Pegula misses one of those shots when MP down and Emma wins in straight sets and everyone here is celebrating. Very small margins.

But the 3rd set was even worse than the Krejcikova match. At least there she was competitive for a couple of games before giving up after failing to break at 1-1. Here she had given up before the first point was played - I called the bagel at 0-30 in the first game. Next time I'll have to put my money where my mouth is and put a sizable bet on against Emma in that situation. That might make her decide to play.

I think back to the Joint match in Rome where she lost the 2nd set in a tie break after serving for it. She didn't give up there and quickly went 5-0 up in the final set. Where was that today?

according to Simon Briggs, Emma was injured in the 3rd set

I didn't see any sign of this

 

[RossG01_]

Pegula is not Maya Joint. You're talking about a player who has been in the top 10 for the last 3 years. I rewatched the 3 match point saves from Pegula the first 2 were god like tennis.

 

[ace22]

today on EE

 

[zenga10]

These are my thoughts as well. You can nitpick certain points here and there, but I thought the first two sets were the best she's played all year. On another day Pegula misses one of those shots when MP down and Emma wins in straight sets and everyone here is celebrating. Very small margins.

But the 3rd set was even worse than the Krejcikova match. At least there she was competitive for a couple of games before giving up after failing to break at 1-1. Here she had given up before the first point was played - I called the bagel at 0-30 in the first game. Next time I'll have to put my money where my mouth is and put a sizable bet on against Emma in that situation. That might make her decide to play.

I think back to the Joint match in Rome where she lost the 2nd set in a tie break after serving for it. She didn't give up there and quickly went 5-0 up in the final set. Where was that today? I didn't see any sign of her being injured.

Orther here have suggested Emma should have taken a break after losing the 2nd set. I think that is a good idea after such a tough loss in the 2nd set, it will take time to get back into the right frame of mind. As long as she doesn't go to the bathroom and start crying about losing 3 MPs and then it would be of no use

I wonder if there is any truth in what Briggs said about Emma seeming to have back issues in the 3rd set, I did not see it, I only saw the tiebreak and the first few games of the third.

 

[hStack]

Orther here have suggested Emma should have taken a break after losing the 2nd set. I think that is a good idea after such a tough loss in the 2nd set, it will take time to get back into the right frame of mind. As long as she doesn't go to the bathroom and start crying about losing 3 MPs and then it would be of no use

I wonder if there is any truth in what Briggs said about Emma seeming to have back issues in the 3rd set, I did not see it, I only saw the tiebreak and the first few games of the third.

I only saw the match live from 4-3 1st set to losing 1st game of third set. She looked physically fine. From the comments in this thread, it doesn't seem Emma is hampered physically in the 3rd set. Looks to be more mental collapse and/or exhaustion.

 

[hStack]

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

Her string of tie break losses coincide with Petchey coming on board Coincidence or a shift in focus in Emma's training and/or match planning?

 

[Lurker79]

Pegula is not Maya Joint. You're talking about a player who has been in the top 10 for the last 3 years. I rewatched the 3 match point saves from Pegula the first 2 were god like tennis.

I'm not talking about the MPs, unlike some I don't think Emma did much wrong there.

I'm talking about giving up at the start of the 3rd set. It shouldn't matter who the opponent is, or what has gone on in the match before. The set score is 0-0, and it's all to play for. Of course it's not easy to mentally reset after being so close - but she has to find a way. She managed it against Joint in Rome in a similar situation, so it's not impossible. If she'd shown the same mentality today, then she'd have stood a chance.

 

[edenstanwarr]

I have less of an issue with not closing out the match- that happens all the time to players, Emma played well and Pegula fought well to stay in it. What is concerning is giving up in the 3rd set, but, according to Simon Briggs, Emma was injured in the 3rd set so maybe she didn't give up, maybe her back was starting to act up as he indicated. I hope she will be ok and able to continue on the Asian swing. With Qinwen also out, injured again-yikes- that's it for Chinese and Chinese speaking players I think at this tournament.

Obviously, it would have been better to see Emma make the 3rd set competitive. However, from Emma's point of view, she had played as well as she can for the first 2 sets and been on the brink of a straight sets victory, which would have been huge for her and for her relationship with Roig. Instead she finds herself one set all. I'm sure she was totally gutted.

I don't think she wasn't trying, but she was disheartened and it only takes a dip of about 5% at this level in order for your opponent to run away with the set. Always in the background is that Emma has suffered 4 years of abuse from critics, which means she is constantly under stress. I don't think anything is gained by being critical of her. I think what she needs is support.

 

[Novice]

Fortunately I went out after the second set. But what I saw was two impressive sets of tennis from Emma which she lost by the finest of margins. I expected her to lose the third set and won’t criticise her.

She’s on the right path. And once she’s got over the loss, hopefully will regroup and keep pushing. Just pleased she has her Mum there.

 

[RossG01_]

I'm not talking about the MPs, unlike some I don't think Emma did much wrong there.

I'm talking about giving up at the start of the 3rd set. It shouldn't matter who the opponent is, or what has gone on in the match before. The set score is 0-0, and it's all to play for. Of course it's not easy to mentally reset after being so close - but she has to find a way. She managed it against Joint in Rome in a similar situation, so it's not impossible. If she'd shown the same mentality today, then she'd have stood a chance.

I'll say again Joint is not Pegula who has been one of the most consistent players in the last 3 years and a top 10 players for the same period.

 

[RossG01_]

Obviously, it would have been better to see Emma make the 3rd set competitive. However, from Emma's point of view, she had played as well as she can for the first 2 sets and been on the brink of a straight sets victory, which would have been huge for her and for her relationship with Roig. Instead she finds herself one set all. I'm sure she was totally gutted.

I don't think she wasn't trying, but she was disheartened and it only takes a dip of about 5% at this level in order for your opponent to run away with the set. Always in the background is that Emma has suffered 4 years of abuse from critics, which means she is constantly under stress. I don't think anything is gained by being critical of her. I think what she needs is support.

Emma will definitely be beating herself up after such losses more than people who are criticizing.

 

[Jollyrads]

I didn’t get a chance to watch the match but I saw the highlights. At the beginning of this year I think very few of us would have hoped to see this kind of tennis from Emma.
Most times her mental strength is unquestionable. A few times it has been quite a letdown that she has been unable to regroup and brush off the bad points to fight and move on. This is something I really hope she will work on.

Roig’s work with her is already showing results and yet they have but been together a short time. Let her finish the year being able to say she has played her first full year on the tour. I think this is a major stress factor for her and the fact that she has never been able to play the Asian swing fully.