After having spoken about the qualification of the Australian Open, let’s focus on the main draw, as many juniors or young pros are still competing and they are achieving outstanding results.
I managed to see (part of) two matches up to now. I now I am a bit monothematic, but I couldn’t miss Iga Swiatek’s debout in a grand slam: she played against Rumanian Anna Bogdan (82 WTA). The other match I saw was that of Clara Burel, who played against one of my favourite players, i.e. Carla Suarez Navarro: I have followed only the first set, though, profiting of a lunch break.
My predictions were correct: Iga managed to overcome her opponent by 6-3 3-6 6-4. The Polish girl has shown mental toughness when, down 2-4 in the decisive set, she called the physio (not sure if it was a tactic to gain some time or if she had a little problem) and, after the pause, she managed to regain control of the match. She hold her serve with ease, broke back her opponent and, thanks to two aces in a row, gained a 5-4 lead, before breaking a further time and winning, thus, the match. I am sure that 1 year ago, on 4-4 in the decisive set, Iga would have double faulted three times in a row and hit an unforced, as it happened a couple of times in 2017 Bonfiglio’s final. From a mental side, Iga has become different person; as per all other aspects of Iga’s game, I redirect to my former article, as the same consideration still apply.
As I hoped, in the second round Iga will play against Camila Giorgi: it will be an interesting match, but I think Iga chances are slim: it will be the first time that she plays against a girl who owns a tennis bigger than her own and I believe the Polish girl is still too inexperienced to set up an effective alternative plan. Moreover, since 1 last year, Giorgi has become much more consistent and Iga cannot hope that the Italian will beat herself, as she did so many times in the past.
Unfortunately, Clara Burel has, instead, lost her match against Suarez Navarro, but she saved her honour indeed, as the final score was 7-5 6-2 in favour of the Spanish. During the last months (i.e. during TUW sleep) Clara has won the silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games and won the Junior Masters, reaching as such the first spot in the ITF junior ranking. Clara was granted a wild card for the main draw of the AO, I am not too sure why: maybe since she was the finalist of last year junior tournament and the winner, En Shuo Liang, didn’t show up to play this year’s pro event for some reason. Anyway, it was a year I didn’t see Clara playing, and I loved her. Whilst the first match I have seen of hers, one year ago, was quite awful, this time she was so pleasant to watch. Clara plays a kind of game different from most of her peers: she is not a big hitter indeed and, maybe to manage to keep the initiative in the rallies, she often attempts very difficult solutions: often she goes for tight angles from central positions or tries winners even when pressed, including the down the line running forehands that I have already noticed last year and are a bit her trademark. Of course this aggressive attitude (which I think Clara needs to maintain to counter more powerful opponents ) makes Clara miss quite a lot of shots, but ensures that her tennis is enjoyable. Add that the girl owns a prime quality hand and that, at least against Suarez, she was keen to play dropshots and to volley, and one may understand why her match was so entertaining. The only weak spot I saw in Burel (beside the fact she is not a Williams sister – physically speaking-) is that sometimes she is a bit lazy: she is far from slow, but from time to time it happens that she just remains stuck on her feet and this causes her to miss.
Of course, also Suarez Navarro has helped of course to lift even more the quality of the match, as she is in my view the most elegant pro currently in activity. The first set between the two was a bit crazy, as Clara took a 2-0 lead but then Suarez Navarro won 5 games in a row, even if each game was close enough and nor Suarez’s level raised particularly, nor Clara’s dropped. Clara, though, managed to react and equalise on 5-5. When down 5-6, Clara was really unlucky: on a game point in her favour, she hit a good attack forcing Navarro to a defensive passing shot with a sliced backhand, which a skilled volleyer as Burel would have easily disposed of; the ball though touched the net and Clara couldn’t volley properly and didn’t convert her occasion. Many points after (that game never ended) Carla Suarez eventually managed to convert a breakpoint and win the set. At that stage I went back to work, very happy of the tennis the French small girl had shown.
As mentioned, other girls are doing well: I was right in envisaging that Amanda Anisimova would have found troubles in disposing of that tricky genius who is Monica Niculescu: the final result was 7-6 6-4 in favour of the American. In the following match, though, quite amazingly, Amanda has beaten the top 30 Tsurenko by 6-2 6-0. Bianca Andreescu is also doing fine: after a difficult first round against Whitney Osuigwe, won by 7-6 6-7 6-3 (well done Whitney, great attempt), she managed to overcome the 26th seed Smitkova by 6-0 4-1 (ret.). Anastasia Potapova managed to win against Parmentier: she will find Madison Keys on her way and I do not honestly think she has chances. Finally, Dajana Jastremska has beaten the legend Sam Stosur by 7-5 6-2 and she will play against Suarez Navarro in the next round. I will support the Spanish, as I like her so much, but I think that on hard courts a big hitter as Jastremska is the favourite to win.
You know what? I end the piece mentioning a boy!: 2017 Bonfiglio champion Alexei Popyrin, currently a top 150 ATP, managed to beat Misha Zverev in three very tight sets and he will play in the second round against Dominic Tiem.
Now it’s time to see Swiatek vs. Giorgi, but there is no plan to write on the match as TUW shouldn’t be Iga’s fun club. I may try to watch and write on an Andreescu, but no promises on this. See you soon, everybody, and well done to Clara Tauson, who has won, as predictable the Trilagon Grade 1.
