I saw the first two sets - completely, and some games from the final
set. I was surprised how close the match was, I really did not expect
that it will last almost 3 hours and the score will be so
close...After loosing first set 5:7, I was 100% sure it's going to be
a two set defeat. But it was not - it was one of the matches where
Daniela showed her extraordinary fighting spirit - from this point of
view - it was great match to watch. She was going for the shots and
she was attacking the second serve of Elena. Daniela played some
sensational shots, lot of them and that is why it was fantastic to
watch the match. Sometimes it seemed like she can play either a great
winner or to make an unforced error - that's a little extreme - but
still exciting to watch... The difference was very small - maybe if
Daniela would play instead of 5 unforced errors five winners, so five
shots to play in the court instead of outside and the winner would be
Daniela. Although Elena lost her next match against Patty Schnyder,
Daniela should not be ashamed of her game. She did well - I just wish
she would play with such a spirit and focus in all the matches and
tournaments - she would improve her ranking significantly.
She is still in doubles and I guess they have chance - but next match
is going to be tough - if they win it, they will win the title.


>
> I have just watched this match, I must say Daniela has a lot of
> chances to really win this match, she was 4:2 ahead in the first
> set and a few point to streched her lead to 5:2. In the 2nd set
> Danila was behind 4:5 with Elena serving for the match she manage
> to win 3 game in a row to pull even at 1 set all. The final set
> Elena jump to a 4:1 lead with 2 breaks of serve, Daniela managed
> to pull one back and held her serve for 4:3 and then had a great
> chance to break and pull the match even but failed on a down the
> line forehand which caught the tape. It was a very close match
> that could have going for a long time and Daniela could have won it.
> My overall impression of Daniela's play is that although she is
> going for her shot quite a lot more than Elena, she lacks
consistancy
> on her ground stroke in all she committed no less than 78 unforced
> errors which doubled Elena's number of unforced errors. She needs
> more net clearance and possibly more top spin on her shot And to me
> some of her shot selection is really questionable, she gave cheap
> points away to Elena with bad drop volleys and in several occassions
> she would play some low percentage drop shots in middle of a rally.
> For Daniela to improve she needs to learn how to play percentage
> tennis and learn to know when to execute a shot at a certain time.
> The gap between Daniela's ability and that of a top 10 player is
not
> huge and in fact I think she is on her way up again but for her to
> regain her rightful place in the ranking, these are the little
thing
> she needs to improve. namely her shot selection, a big more spin
and
> clearance on her ground shots and also her physical condition which
> I know it is continue to improve. I still regard Dani as
potentially
> better player than Elena but it will be a shame to waste that
talent.