Why/how do players go from being great to being garbage in the same match?

[whareouttogetme]

For example this Diyas vs Giorgi game

Giorgi won the first set 6-4, and then in the second set lost 6-1

(15:0, 30:0, 30:15, 30:30, 40:30BPSP, 40:40, A:40BPSP, 40:40, A:40BPSP, 40:40, A:40BPSP, 40:40, 40:A, 40:40, A:40BPSP, 40:40, 40:A) - the only game she won in the second set, serving.

So you'd think she lost it and Diyas had gotten the better of her, but then Giorgi wins the 3rd set 6-1 no problem. I've seen it happen before too, often with Jankovic. She'll win the first set easily, then it's almost like she's given up in the 2nd, and then she'll win end up winning the 3rd set 6-0 or something with ease.

I don't follow tennis much so I don't understand why this happens. Do players ever think (after getting off to a bad start in the 2nd set) "I've won the first set, it's OK if I lose this set and just make sure I win the 3rd"? And was it important for Giorgi to win that one game (making it 5-1 with Diyas to serve) so she would get to serve first in the 3rd set?

Just curious since tennis season has started

[Conqueror]

It's to ensure you lose your bet if you take the favorite to win in straight sets.

[frugalgambler]

Lots of women have issues closing out matches and even more women start to play much better when they fall behind. The key is to understand who, against whom and when is likely to do that.

[reedy]

Have you ever seen Gorgi play? Probably the flattest hitter in the WTA. When shes on shes great but can go from that to complete garbage in minutes because of the small margin or error. Her 3 set results are always all over the place. The only times I have bet on her have been live at the USO after watching the warm ups. That's the only way i can ever get a feel for her.

As for Diyas...... shes so pretty....

[brodie]

diyas is sexy. if you're watching WOMENS tennis for anything but sexual pleasure then I cant help you

[whareouttogetme]

I prefer Sharapova and Ivanovic myself tbh

[reedy]

I prefer Sharapova and Ivanovic myself tbh

Ana is cute. Maria would probably peg the life right out of you.

[MGTennisTipster]

As reedy mentioned, Giorgi is one of the most inconsistent players on tour with massive groundstrokes and can go from 8 to 80 in seconds. In more general terms, is hard for players to keep the focus during all match, no mater if they are world no.1 or world no. 1000, all of them struggle mentally to keep the focus (of course some can be more stable and that's one of the main reasons why they are better). Being a top player doesn't mean necessarily that they are more talented or can hit better groundstrokes, many times is the mental side to decide matches.


Also many times after a player wins 6 - 0 is pretty often that the next set is quite even or he/she even loses. The player who wins first set was very focused during all the set while the other player gave up mentally around 0 - 3 or 0 - 4, focusing on second set and due to that, starting the second set mentally fresher.

[burtonrider726]

Played tennis myself for fifteen years and it was always a roller coaster for me. Same with all the guys and girls I played around. Many times when you win their serve they may let up to not waste energy the rest of the set, then expend all their energy winning the second set. And that third set can be a doozy.

In men's tennis though, there are a lot less breaks since serves are more effective and set up the point nicely in the servers favorites. In women's tennis, most don't serve consistently or have a big serve to rely on and so points are pretty neutral throughout the rally. Some times serving can be a disadvantage. Do you remember Elena dementieva? She had a second serve of 65 mph. Most on your average at least 80-95. For the men they average 110-125.

That's just my two cents.