Wow, was that a real strategy by Bouzkova on match point? Up a set and 6-5 in the 2nd set tiebreaker, she serves a super slow speed floating kick serve as her FIRST SERVE into the middle of the box AND it works! Jovic tried to attack it and floated it long. The element of surprise!

In some ways, the true test for Iga to go far in the next 2 tournaments is surviving mid-tournament matches. Let's look at some of the players she has lost to this year: Sakkari, Eala, Navarro, Linette(!) Mid-tournament she's going to run into one of these players or someone similar. It seems like she panics a little and doesn't find solutions when she has been down to these players this year. So maybe the true test if she's really "back" is finding a way through these matches again. That's why it's so hard to say with confidence that she will go deep in Cincinnati and the USO. We just don't know - yet.

It's interesting that Iga's season so far is bookended by 2 matches against Rybakina. The first in January in the AO Quarterfinals, Iga came out seemingly with zero belief, got broken (really, broke herself) in the 1st game and really looked overpowered by Rybakina the rest of the match. And of course she did the completely going away thing in the 2nd set (1-6). And now this win in Toronto! It's just completely night and day, the 2 matches. But this does feel like a turning point. She is never going back to being that player she was in January

If you're an Iga fan (and as for me I would like it if Iga never lost another match in her life), then do you want her to go deep/win Cincinnati? I mean, who can win back-to-back 1000s AND then a slam shortly thereafter? I want the slam

Whatever you want to say about Rybakina's serving this tournament, it's pretty remarkable that in the 4 3-set matches she has played this tournament only one player has broken her in the 3rd set - Samsonova (2x). That's pretty clutch.

Rybakina against Osaka: never ever in that match was Rybakina confident in her FH, often showing again and again she just could not time it. And for much of the match, she could not get a first serve in - in the final set wherein she was never broken, she served at only 50% So why did she still win? You have to say that Osaka missed a real opportunity. She had one plan, particularly in that last set, which was to relatively safe deep balls to the Rybakina FH and hope for errors. She played it safe, too safe. One of Rybakina's underrated shots is her kicking 2nd serve, but it still can be attacked. But Osaka never did so, content mainly to put it in play, but that won her only 50% of 2nd serve returns in the final set. Osaka has been focused on returning more balls in play and cutting down on errors, but in this match she all but gave up on aggression and it cost her.

How wrong could Rennae Stubbs be about this?? The WNBA is now beginning discussions of "deciding what a women is" in the wake of former NBA players declaring for the WNBA draft. To the vast majority of people, that the WNBA can't take a stance saying that a women's league is for women, this makes the WNBA a joke. This is EXACTLY what the WTA has avoided by getting out ahead of the issue. Stubbs' is a mostly foolish person who unfortunately has the air of authority to some, and here she is clearly being short-sighted. The WTA is avoiding a "Lia Thomas" moment or an "Imane Kelief" problem or what the WNBA is dealing with right now by getting OUT AHEAD of the issue. A smart and brand-protecting move that is supported and even applauded by the vast majority of WTA fans. Stubbs should go back in her Mandamified NY apt. and stay there.

How wrong could Rennae Stubbs be about this?? The WNBA is now beginning discussions of "deciding what a women is" in the wake of former NBA players declaring for the WNBA draft. To the vast majority of people, that the WNBA can't take a stance saying that a women's league is for women, this makes the WNBA a joke. This is EXACTLY what the WTA has avoided by getting out ahead of the issue. Stubbs' is a mostly foolish person who unfortunately has the air of authority to some, and here she is clearly being short-sighted. The WTA is avoiding a "Lia Thomas" moment or an "Imane Kelief" problem or what the WNBA is dealing with right now by getting OUT AHEAD of the issue. A smart and brand-protecting move that is supported and even applauded by the vast majority of WTA fans. Stubbs should go back in her Mandamified NY apt. and stay there.

It's pretty apparent when watching Alex Eala on court is that the most valuable thing she learned from her tutelage at the Rafael Nadal Academy is not anything technical or tactical but the Nadal mindset between points, which AI provides a good summary of what it entails (SEE BELOW) Of course every player tries to do some variation of this, some much better than others. It has to be something that's learned, it takes practice, and Eala has been practicing it since she was 13 years old.

Here's a perspective on Alex Eala based on the lefty legacy in recent WTA history. First, we have to acknowledge commonalities nearly all lefties have: Spinny, versatile but not very fast serves Amazing creativity and versatility on the FH A BH that is oftentimes not a weapon There's some variation obviously, and if we look at the gold standard for lefties in the last 15 years, Petra Kvitova, her big serve was definitely an exception. But other than Kvitova, there really seems to be a performance ceiling for lefties and it seems to be around a ranking of 20. Yes, players have reached higher than that, Vondrousova (#6#) Haddad Maia (10), Fernandez (13) but none have been really able to sustain it It's now been 6 years since we've had a lefty as a mainstay inside the top 10. That of course was Petra, who was a fixture in the top 10 for nearly the entire period from 2011 thru 2020(!) Some may find it silly that I am comparing Eala to other lefties, but if you believe as I do she shares characteristics with other lefty players then it's valid to speculate about a ceiling. If Eala can pull it off and have a top 10 career, then her nationality won't be the only unique thing about her, a lefty doing this will also be very notable

This Chwalinska-Gibson match is an entertaining contrast in styles. Gibson is no joke in that she can hit the ever-lovin' sh-t out of the ball, but she is not a good mover. Chwalinska's job is to get Gibson into a rally where she can get Gibson off-balance, and then win the point with her laser-accurate FH. The difference as often is the case may be who gets the easy 1st serve points, and there we have to favor Gibson

Kalinskaya might have the strangest psychology in tennis. She breaks Pegula when Pegula was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second. Immediately gestures and talks to her box, presumably because she was worried about her dog getting overheated. Priorities??? Then she DFs 3 times and nets a FH to give the break back immediately. Loses the next game and the match.

Janice Tien's 2026 season is kinda fascinating. She started the year ranked #53# She is currently ranked #37# She has 9 wins and 20 losses on the season How is it possible to IMPROVE in ranking with such a record? Certainly not having that many points to defend is important, but one key is she has 2 wins at slams, and 4 at the 1000 level plus 1 500 win Not all wins are equal!

Well, really she was playing more or less full-time thru 2019, so I count her matches beginning in 2020 when this whole long long wildcard parade began. She is 8-42 in singles matches since the beginning of 2020, including losing now 12 straight, but there HAS NEVER been a time during the whole saga where she was EVER winning consistently. Makes you think: is it really impressive that you keep playing (only when you want to!) into your 40's but lose most of the time? I mean couldn't allot of players do that just as well, meaning lose tennis matches in your 40's. Of course, for most of them good luck getting WCs when you lose 80% of your matches. Venus truly is one of one.

Well, really she was playing more or less full-time thru 2019, so I count her matches beginning in 2020 when this whole long long wildcard parade began. She is 8-42 in singles matches since the beginning of 2020, including losing now 12 straight, but there HAS NEVER been a time during the whole saga where she was EVER winning consistently. Makes you think: is it really impressive that you keep playing (only when you want to!) into your 40's but lose most of the time? I mean couldn't allot of players do that just as well, meaning lose tennis matches in your 40's. Of course, for most of them good luck getting WCs when you lose 80% of your matches. Venus truly is one of one.

Tennis people suddenly discovering Lilli Tagger and the beauty of a one-handed BH should realize that in her year of playing pro tennis, her BH has been the weakest part of her game. Can be rushed on it, it's prone to errors, and has to slice defensively pretty often. All these things can be worked out as she gets stronger, but everyone should pump the brakes before thinking that this is some magic shot she has