Interesting that the matches are best of 5, does that not seem a bit excessive for
a non GS tournament and that they are younger players at the beginning of their career?
Yeah they are best of five, but they are only playing to 4 games, if there is 3-3 result they are immediately playing tie break. So in the end matches are lasting less then proper best of 3 matches. That is why I have not been able to find handicaps anywhere, I guess bookies do not have time to calculate odds for these matches since it would require significant tweaks in the odds algorithm and this is the only tournament with such rules.
ah yes I get it now, I watched the last 2 sets of the Korda v Gaston match, some great tennis
on display and yea the rules are very clear and actually work quite well to speed up the sets.
Emma Raducanu just lost in Austria, the number one seed going out in her first match. It wasn't entirely unpredictable given her form since the US Open, and she looked second-best throughout - apart from a brief period at the end of the second set when she took the tie-break 7-0. The match reports are probably going to highlight the injury when she lost her serve in the third set, but in truth she was struggling to stay in the match at that point, and never really looked like winning. It must have been a huge struggle mentally after the US Open, and it will take her time to settle and gain some more experience. I do think she'll definitely be a top 10 player, but needs time.
Ah its a pity for Raducanu, I wonder if she envisioned a more successful follow on from the U.S
open for herself? Hopefully she can work things out and get back to winning ways.