Solid effort for Shapo. He'll be back, though you do worry if the inconsistencies that showed up again today are going to keep him from pushing to a higher level.
It really wasn’t about me though. I was trying to do it for Roger amd I feel awful that I let him down.
Wow. Barty down 0-40 on Pliskova’s serve at 5-5, comes back to break her and now will serve for the Championship.
A really lame effort by Ash at 6-5, especially the double fault to start the game. That's still what separates her from the other top players - can you imagine Serena or Naomi not closing that set out?
Some of it is definitely in her head. Could see that nervy game coming from a mile away. I also think she just doesn’t have a ton of experience in these situations. Her French Open Final and SF were both blowout wins where she faced no pressure late. Outside of that, her “biggest” moments where she’s come through and won are probably like Miami and the Tour Finals? Still learning on the job a bit.
Double faults going to kill her if she's not careful. - they've already cost her the last 2 games of set 2.
That last game is why I think Pliskova is still right in this - Barty was hitting short rubbish all over the place. Very nervy.
Really strong hold by Barty there - one game away. Lot of uneducated dimwits in the crowd today that seem more impressed with the ball kids catching balls and not shutting up when players are ready to serve.
not going to make any judgements based off anything this set, Novak almost seems to toy with the opponent in Set 1. How matteo deals with a Set 3 version of Novak will be more revealing.
As much as I hate him I think he’s mastered his work load management. He’s so good he can play down to the opponents level putting forth the least effort possible. While I agree with what you are saying, not sure he employs this tactic in finals or not. Like we saw with Rafa he’s more than content to just outlast you over hours.
Looks noticeably stiffer and less fluid moving around today to me. Could be nerves, could be the leg. But that’s a lot of strapping.