US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Byron P. McCr » Thu, 27 Aug 1998 04:00:00


Sucks to be Hingis...second round match vs. Huber or Majoli (who meet in
the first round--ouch), third round match against Mauresmo, and a
quarterfinal match up with Seles does NOT bode well for her chances to
repeat as a champ...

Capriati had the piss-poor luck to draw Novotna as her first round
opponent.  Novotna has almost single-handedly stopped JenCap's comeback.
Yes, I AM prone to hyperbole, but think about it...when Capriati was
reaching tournament finals and semifinals a year or so back, she was
always losing to Novotna...even after a great win over Seles.  

The women's draw lacks some of the drama that the men's draw does...
Novotna's section features Serena Williams (I just don't see her being
a huge threat to Jana), Spirlea, Patty Schnyder, Mary Joe Fernandez,
Lucic, and Graf.  The ideal quarterfinal pairing would be Novotna v.
Graf...Schyder looks to be the most likely spoiler.

Venus has a pretty terrific draw.  She'll get the victor of Magui Serna v.
Mary Pierce in Rd of 16--this should be a test for her.  The other big
match-up in this part of the draw would be Kournikova v. Sanchez Vicario,
and I don't see anyone seriously threatening to prevent this from
happening...A Williams v. Kournikova quarter would be the best for the
game, but ASV has been strong throughout the year...

In the bottom-est part of the draw, Conchita and Lindsay are seeded to
clash...Conchita's chief challenges would appear to be from Zvereva
(who has beaten her on hardcourts before) or Coetzer.  Zvereva meets
Raymond in the first round...Raymond played a good match against Martinez
in Fed Cup, and either Zvereva or Raymond could advance in this relatively
weak part of the draw to the quarterfinals...Davenport SHOULD do well,
especially with the HOT summer she's had.  McNeil, Tara Snyder, Chanda
Rubin, and, of course Natalie Tauziat might be threats...Lindsay should
easily advance to the quarters, and to the semi's...

As far as the draw goes, Hingis definetly got a raw deal...

--
Byron P. McCrae
Coordinator, Office of LGBT Student Services
New York University
212 998-4424 (phone)
212 995-4116 (fax)

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Audney R. Terr » Thu, 27 Aug 1998 04:00:00

I couldnt agree more - the draw for Hingis is no fun at all.  Huber and
Mauresmo have posted some great wins at Pilot Pen this week and surely
look to inflict some damage on Hingis - and then she has to face Seles
if she gets through that! Yikes!
    I think the second quarter is very interesting though - Novotna may
face Testud in the 3rd round and then Serena (who could pose a MAJOR
threat) if she gets past that - and then of course theres Steffi - whom
I think we will be able to judge better if she continues on her winning
streak this week in New Haven - Graf will have to face Coetzer tomorrow
and I think that match will be the key in determining her fate at the
USO.
    venus should have a fairly easy time until she meets Serna  - i dont
see Kournikova as much of a threat as last year, given her results the
past few weeks.  And I would love to see her play Arantxa - their
conflicting styles make for great matches.
    The last quarter is also interesting - Raymond, Zvereva, Coetzer,
Martinez and Davenport are all great players and there should be some
great matchups there too.    Predictions? I see Seles v. Graf and Venus
v. Davenport in the semis and Seles v Davenport in the final. Any other
thougts?
Jerry B

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Tennis M » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

<<<As far as the draw goes, Hingis definetly got a raw deal... >>>

I agree...she is the #1 seed for goodness sakes... that should be good for
something..also look at novotna who is the #3 seed who has to play Jennifer
capriati in the 1st round... tough for both players

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Robert B. Wal » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

> <<<As far as the draw goes, Hingis definetly got a raw deal... >>>

> I agree...she is the #1 seed for goodness sakes... that should be good for
> something..also look at novotna who is the #3 seed who has to play Jennifer
> capriati in the 1st round... tough for both players

It's tough for Capriati, but *somebody* has to play the seeds in the
first round. :-)

Based on this year's results, I don't think this is "unfair" to
Novotna. Capriati is not a threat. Last I looked, she still had
not made it back into the Top 100.

--
Robert B. Waltz
(e-mail address hidden to avoid spam)

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Byron P. McCr » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

Actually, I couldn't agree with YOU more...I also think Seles v. Davenport
is the most likely final...(although I'm torn as to who Seles will face
in the semi's--I don't think it will be Steffi...)


Quote:
> I couldnt agree more - the draw for Hingis is no fun at all.  Huber and
> Mauresmo have posted some great wins at Pilot Pen this week and surely
> look to inflict some damage on Hingis - and then she has to face Seles
> if she gets through that! Yikes!
>     I think the second quarter is very interesting though - Novotna may
> face Testud in the 3rd round and then Serena (who could pose a MAJOR
> threat) if she gets past that - and then of course theres Steffi - whom
> I think we will be able to judge better if she continues on her winning
> streak this week in New Haven - Graf will have to face Coetzer tomorrow
> and I think that match will be the key in determining her fate at the
> USO.
>     venus should have a fairly easy time until she meets Serna  - i dont
> see Kournikova as much of a threat as last year, given her results the
> past few weeks.  And I would love to see her play Arantxa - their
> conflicting styles make for great matches.
>     The last quarter is also interesting - Raymond, Zvereva, Coetzer,
> Martinez and Davenport are all great players and there should be some
> great matchups there too.    Predictions? I see Seles v. Graf and Venus
> v. Davenport in the semis and Seles v Davenport in the final. Any other
> thougts?
> Jerry B

--
Byron P. McCrae
 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Grant Lun » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

> > I couldnt agree more - the draw for Hingis is no fun at all.  Huber and
> > Mauresmo have posted some great wins at Pilot Pen this week and surely
> > look to inflict some damage on Hingis - and then she has to face Seles
> > if she gets through that! Yikes!

Hingis does have an awful draw. Even if she gets to the final (which I
doubt) she will be drained. The potential second round with Huber may
result in a surprise upset. I certainly wouldn't be that surprised if
Hingis lost. Seles should come through - if she meets Hingis then she
will win easily but against Huber, it will be a lot more difficult.

Quote:
> >     I think the second quarter is very interesting though - Novotna may
> > face Testud in the 3rd round and then Serena (who could pose a MAJOR
> > threat) if she gets past that - and then of course theres Steffi - whom
> > I think we will be able to judge better if she continues on her winning
> > streak this week in New Haven - Graf will have to face Coetzer tomorrow
> > and I think that match will be the key in determining her fate at the
> > USO.

Novotna really should get through to the semis though I think the Testud
match may be the key. I agree with your comment concerning steffi - the
Coetzer match tomorrow will be a major factor. I still think Steffi wont
make it to the semis but if she is playing steadily, a quarter final
showing is not out of the question. Once again though, no surprises if
she loses early (she shouldn't lose before the 3rd at least).

Quote:
> >     venus should have a fairly easy time until she meets Serna  - i dont
> > see Kournikova as much of a threat as last year, given her results the
> > past few weeks.  And I would love to see her play Arantxa - their
> > conflicting styles make for great matches.

Very dubious quarter this.. Venus has been off for some time and
Kournikova..well.. ASV has also been out of it. I think a venus/ASV
matching is possible with ASV maybe pulling it off.

Quote:
> >     The last quarter is also interesting - Raymond, Zvereva, Coetzer,
> > Martinez and Davenport are all great players and there should be some
> > great matchups there too.    Predictions? I see Seles v. Graf and Venus
> > v. Davenport in the semis and Seles v Davenport in the final. Any other
> > thougts?

Davenport has it fairly easy and could take advantage of Hingis' draw.
If Coetzer does well at PP , then Davenport may have problems early on,
otherwise I can only see Martinez giving her problems (If martinez get's
to the quarters).

PRedict semis:
Seles- Novotna
ASV - Davenport

finals:
Seles - Davenport

Winner - Seles (wishful thinking probably - but not out of the question
going by seles' good performance of late).

Grant

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by David Mande » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

The seeds should not be whining about tough
opponents. They already get a break by not
playing eachother early. If a Navotna can't
beat Capriati, that it is just tough luck.
They should be thankful they don't have to
be in the qualies or play top rated foes early.
 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by da » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

> Hingis does have an awful draw. Even if she gets to the final (which I
> doubt) she will be drained. The potential second round with Huber may
> result in a surprise upset. I certainly wouldn't be that surprised if
> Hingis lost. Seles should come through - if she meets Hingis then she
> will win easily but against Huber, it will be a lot more difficult.

Hmmm ... I would say just the opposite. Seles pretty much owns Huber, and
with Anke's recent time off from the tour due to injury, I wouldn't think
she would be match tough enough to put up much fight. On the other hand,
Seles has only beaten Hingis twice, and neither of them were easy wins.
Hingis, however, *has* whupped up on Monica pretty severely ...

Quote:
> Davenport has it fairly easy and could take advantage of Hingis' draw.
> If Coetzer does well at PP , then Davenport may have problems early on,
> otherwise I can only see Martinez giving her problems (If martinez get's
> to the quarters).

Anyone else notice how lucky Davenport has gotten in her past few Slam
draws?  All year long, really. She has obviously improved a lot this year,
but I would like to see how she fares when she gets a draw like the one
Hingis got this time around. Lindsay has had easy draws but folded in the
semis ... maybe a tough 2 weeks would make her mad enough to actually win
a title!

dar
--
Will play tennis for food.

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Robert B. Wal » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00


Quote:
> Hmmm ... I would say just the opposite. Seles pretty much owns Huber, and
> with Anke's recent time off from the tour due to injury, I wouldn't think
> she would be match tough enough to put up much fight. On the other hand,
> Seles has only beaten Hingis twice, and neither of them were easy wins.
> Hingis, however, *has* whupped up on Monica pretty severely ...

Nice to see that someone still remembers Hingis is alive. :-) Even
lately, her results haven't been bad; they merely haven't been all
that good. But even over the last two months or so, she would be
#4 in the world.

BTW -- did anyone see the article in _Tennis_ magazine (the one
with the -- ahem! -- photo...) talking about how distracted she
has been of late by the high life and by moodiness? One of these
days, presumably, she'll get over that. Whereupon the balance of
power might shift again.

Pretty scary, when so much depends on a ***ager's mood. :-)

Quote:
> > Davenport has it fairly easy and could take advantage of Hingis' draw.
> > If Coetzer does well at PP , then Davenport may have problems early on,
> > otherwise I can only see Martinez giving her problems (If martinez get's
> > to the quarters).

> Anyone else notice how lucky Davenport has gotten in her past few Slam
> draws?  All year long, really. She has obviously improved a lot this year,
> but I would like to see how she fares when she gets a draw like the one
> Hingis got this time around. Lindsay has had easy draws but folded in the
> semis ... maybe a tough 2 weeks would make her mad enough to actually win
> a title!

I can't speak to Davenport's temperament -- but the easy draws are
no joke. And it's not just the Slams (though her draw at the French
was a joke, and her draw at Wimbledon almost as good). Look at what
she faced this week at the Pilot Pen! Now as it turns out, her half
of the draw will be tougher than Novotna's, because all the seeds
in Novotna's half have already fallen. But on paper, Davenport had
a free ride to the finals.

Davenport reached #2 in the world by playing a *lot* of tournaments
last year. This year, she is reaping the rewards in easy draws. I'm
not sure what I think of that....

--
Robert B. Waltz
(e-mail address hidden to avoid spam)

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by TheMousi » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

I think Monica Seles' recent return to more of her "old form" has quite a bit
to do with Martina Hingis' "still great, but not as great as in '97" season so
far! :)

The fact is, Hingis dominated the distracted and not really in shape Seles
throughout '97. The '98 model Seles has convincingly turned the tables- and
Monica IS the player who ended Martina's French Open dreams this season.  If
Seles was not back to her old form this season, we would all be talking about
how *** Hingis STILL is- just like last year.

Having to face Seles in the Quarters is the key to Hingis' '98 US Open Draw-
and I think Monica will make it 3 times in '98 when that happens....:)

Dave Bakas

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Robert B. Wal » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

Quote:

> I think Monica Seles' recent return to more of her "old form" has quite a bit
> to do with Martina Hingis' "still great, but not as great as in '97" season so
> far! :)

The problem with this is that Seles has provided Hingis with only
two of her nine losses. At this point last year, Hingis had two
losses (although she had played fewer tournaments). Obviously the
losses to Seles haven't helped Hingis's record -- but Seles could
have retired last year and Hingis would still be having trouble.

[ ... ]

Quote:
> Having to face Seles in the Quarters is the key to Hingis' '98 US Open Draw-
> and I think Monica will make it 3 times in '98 when that happens....:)

No argument with the first part of that sentence; Seles will be her
biggest challenge before the Davenport (or Williams, or other) in
the final. As for the second -- well, I think that depends more on
Hingis than on Seles. Seles is giving it all she has. Hingis isn't.
The question is, will Hingis ever *start* giving her all?

--
Robert B. Waltz
(e-mail address hidden to avoid spam)

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by CobyU » Fri, 28 Aug 1998 04:00:00

What makes you think Hingis is not giving it her all...take your head out of the
sand...Hingis is on her way down...and seles is getting back.  Its monica tenacity
and mental focus that is back..along with her fitness.....i loved monica's comment
after beating hingis last week she said "hingis was lucky to win the first set"
Hingis will not be #1 year end......the other girls have caught her and mentally she
cant hang in there anymore....BURNOUT...it happens to the best of us.
Quote:


> > I think Monica Seles' recent return to more of her "old form" has quite a bit
> > to do with Martina Hingis' "still great, but not as great as in '97" season so
> > far! :)

> The problem with this is that Seles has provided Hingis with only
> two of her nine losses. At this point last year, Hingis had two
> losses (although she had played fewer tournaments). Obviously the
> losses to Seles haven't helped Hingis's record -- but Seles could
> have retired last year and Hingis would still be having trouble.

> [ ... ]

> > Having to face Seles in the Quarters is the key to Hingis' '98 US Open Draw-
> > and I think Monica will make it 3 times in '98 when that happens....:)

> No argument with the first part of that sentence; Seles will be her
> biggest challenge before the Davenport (or Williams, or other) in
> the final. As for the second -- well, I think that depends more on
> Hingis than on Seles. Seles is giving it all she has. Hingis isn't.
> The question is, will Hingis ever *start* giving her all?

> --
> Robert B. Waltz
> (e-mail address hidden to avoid spam)

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by TheMousi » Sat, 29 Aug 1998 04:00:00

I'm hardly suggesting the ONLY thing that has gone downhill in Hingis' luck is
having to face a resurgent Monica Seles twice in '98- after all, Martina has
losses to others who matter too, obviously! :)  But Monica Seles IS the player
who squelched Hingis' unclaimed Clay Crown- the only major hardware in the
sport she had left to claim, and on the surface Martina's supposedly "***"
on.  I really do believe that had Hingis prevailed that day in France, she may
well have gone on to defeat Sanchez-Vicario in the final- but we'll never know.
 Thanks to Seles, Hingis' clay season may as well have been spent at home after
another horse back riding mishap....:)

Yes, Davenport and Williams have given Hingis problems this year- but not at a
Grand Slam tourney.  Novotna's Wimbledon win and Seles' French win are the two
losses that are "important" to most of us out here watching- no one really does
care who the heck wins the COREL Championships of Hoboken or Innsbruck or any
other stop, frankly.  We remember who wins the big 4...! :)

Dave Bakas

Who believes this draw favors Seles to win the US Open in '98, probably vs.
Davenport-
a conclusion I've noticed seems popular here on this newsgroup thus far! :)

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by Shun Cheun » Sat, 29 Aug 1998 04:00:00

Quote:


> > <<<As far as the draw goes, Hingis definetly got a raw deal... >>>

> > I agree...she is the #1 seed for goodness sakes... that should be good for
> > something..also look at novotna who is the #3 seed who has to play Jennifer
> > capriati in the 1st round... tough for both players

> It's tough for Capriati, but *somebody* has to play the seeds in the
> first round. :-)

> Based on this year's results, I don't think this is "unfair" to
> Novotna. Capriati is not a threat. Last I looked, she still had
> not made it back into the Top 100.

Keep in mind that Capriati actually needs a wildcard to get into the
US Open main draw. Capriati has been playing horribly for quite some
time and that is why her ranking is so low. This looks like a very
easy first-round match for Novotna.

As far as the Majoli-Huber 1R match goes; both are poor hard court
players. Even though they were seeded at the US Open in the last
few years, both Huber and Majoli pretty much routinely lost in the
early rounds. I expect a fairly ugly low-quality match between Majoli
and Huber.

-- Shun Cheung  New Jersey,USA  shun(AT)worldnet.att.net

1998 GS--AO:Jan19-Feb 1  FO:May25-Jun 7  W:Jun22-Jul 5  USO:Aug31-Sep13

 
 
 

US OPEN Women's Draw--Thoughts

Post by sunn » Sat, 29 Aug 1998 04:00:00


| Hmmm ... I would say just the opposite. Seles pretty much owns Huber, and
| with Anke's recent time off from the tour due to injury, I wouldn't think
| she would be match tough enough to put up much fight. On the other hand,
| Seles has only beaten Hingis twice, and neither of them were easy wins.
| Hingis, however, *has* whupped up on Monica pretty severely ...|

Hingis's past demolition of Seles can not be used as an indcator of
Hingis's *** over Seles. Same for Graf's past wins over Hingis.
Everyone agrees how off form and distracted Seles had been before her
comeback in French Open. Seles had lost to players she could have easily
crushed and worse still, in the early rounds. The old Seles would always be
in the finals, a few semi's and losses in quarterfinals were virtually
unheard of except Wimbledon. If Hingis keeps turning to past wins over
Seles to boost her morale instead of acknowledging Seles's prowess, she'll
be crushed again. Obviously when she commented last year, 'Well, I beat her
all the time, I beat her at her best...', she naively underestimated Seles.
At least since the French Open's loss, she seemed to have begun to give due
respect to Seles. Hingis even admitted she tried but simply had no answer
to Seles's shots after her last loss to her at Du Maurier. Of course Hingis
fans can argue that she is not playing like #1. I agree, Hingis's form has
deteriorated vis-a-vis 1997, but her off-form is definitely not as severe
as Seles's off form in the past years.