US OPEN

• Have a weapon or two
• Be physically fit
• Hold your serve
• Capitalize on your break chances
• Maintain a positive attitude
• Know when to go for your shots
• When in doubt, keep the ball in play
• Do not let the ball play you, move your feet
• Follow through on your swing and be consistent
• Play to win, do not play fearing loss

[CR27] Madison Keys (USA) lost her match today for the following reasons: she forgot to hold her serve; failed to capitalize on her break chances; did not maintain a positive attitude when things got shaky; does not know when to go for her shots; when in doubt, she did not keep the ball in play; and lastly, she let the ball play her and by not getting up to the ball, she ended up missing a lot of her shots.

There is no doubt that she has the weapons, but she has to learn to hone them.  Hopefully this loss will teach her something valuable and she will come out swinging at her next tournament; for when she is on, it’s a pleasure to watch the graceful power of her strokes.

As for her opponent today, I watched her maintain her calm while Keys became flustered.  They were both battling the same conditions; no doubt there was more pressure on Keys because she was the higher ranked player and expected to win. However, [CR145] Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) earned the win because she employed more of the keys to success and had more mental clarity when it mattered.