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General Comments | Last hour
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| | May 27 2008 02:40:35
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 6-4 6-3 at French Open WTA Slam (FRA) - Clay, Round of 128 << |
| | Morigami was under an injury cloud coming into this event having pulled out of Istanbul in the third set - her fourth conseuctive defeat. The Japanese girl is much preferred on the harder surfaces and has lost her last two matches here to the average Garbin and non-claycourter and lowly-ranked Shenay Perry of the USA. She is a defensive counter-punchnig type who has sprang an upset from time-to-time, but young Petra Kvitova is one of the many rising stocks in the Czech Republic (slowly becoming the new Russia). Kvitova won two titles at ITF level to end last year, then carried over some good transition form with wins over Pironkova, Medina Garrigues, Venus Williams and Yickmayer (which was another title in Monzon). She was unlucky to lose in straight so Sugiyama in Strasbourg having squandered a few breaks early in each set that resulted in a direct vica-versa break for the Japanese player, but this girl can strike a ball and is very accurate from the back of the court. She plays with a fair bit of top spin but can flatten out her strokes just as effectively, and also moves very well on this surface which spells trouble for the out-of-form Morigami. So often the young up-and-comers prove too good for the average also-rans and has-beens and this could very well be the case here against the one-dimensional Morigami. |
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| | May 25 2008 13:34:44
tennis-guru
0 (1623) Posts
0 (1880) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 6-4 6-3 at French Open WTA Slam (FRA) - Clay, Round of 128 << |
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| | May 19 2008 00:49:57
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Aiko Nakamura (JPN) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 3-6 7-6(6) 4-1 ret. at Istanbul WTA Tier III (TUR) - Clay, Round of 32 << |
| | It's always tough to bet on two Japanese players as they are a tight bunch and will know each other's games inside out. Morigami, who has a little bit of an edge in variety and power, has won both previous hard court encounters and has clearly a superior record on the dirt having won a title in Prague last year (d. Pin, Benesova, Azarenka and Bartoli in final) and back in the 2006 French Open she beat Chakky and took Clijsters to 3 sets. She ousted Szavay and Srebotnik in Dubai, but has lost all 3 subsequent matches (none on clay) but all were 3 set matches against Mauresmo, Bammer and Errani. Nakamura, who struggles on serve, has reverted to the ITF level for some much-needed confidence but has lost to 2 lowly ranked Japanese players in her past two carpet tournaments. She has lost 10 of her past 13 on clay - a surface she plays very little each year - and Akiko should definitely take the cake on the dirt with current odds of $1.60 seeming money for jam. |
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| | Mar 25 2008 22:04:39
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Sara Errani (ITA) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 6-2 3-6 6-4 at Miami WTA Tier I (USA) - Hard Court, Round of 96 << |
| | The experienced Akiko Morigami had a fantastic run as a lucky loser main draw entrant in Dubai, with wins over Savchuk, Morita and Szavay before losing in a tough 3 set match to Amelie Mauresmo. She then led the out-of-form Bammer by a set in Bangalore, before succumbing 7-5 in the third set but as always she is extremely competitive in her matches. Sara Errani, the youngster from Italy, has failed to recapture the form that saw her go within inches of ousting Davenport at the Aus Open, and has suffered some confidence-slashing losses of late. She is a gritty baseliner with some good shots off especially the forehand side, but is vulnerable on serve and seems to get very nervous when put under lots of pressure. Morigami is as steady a competitior as they come and has few weaknesses - so expect her to extend the rallies against Errani and hoping the Italian errs. The good thing about the Japanese player is that she also has some offensive weapons so considering Errani's lack of evident power, it is not silly to say that she could dominate the baseline rallies. Errani should put up a fight, but Morigami will be too rock solid in the long run. |
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| | Mar 2 2008 21:35:11
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Sybille Bammer (AUT) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 2-6 6-3 7-5 at Bangalore WTA Tier II (IND) - Hard Court, Round of 32 << |
| | Both players play a similar counter-punching and solid defensive style, but Bammer has a few more bows to her weaponry. She has a bigger serve, and is not too shabby at the net either. Add to that her superior foot movement and Morigami is going to need to play a near flawless game. That being said, Bammer has been lacking confidence of late and her results have been far inferior to those in 07 where she stamped herself as a real threat despite her age and motherhood status. Morigami is favoured in this part of the world, but just not sure she matches up well against this type of opponent. Prefer her against the players who like to go for their shots a little more - Bammer should be too solid for mine. |
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| | Feb 26 2008 21:11:32
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 4-6 6-1 6-4 at Dubai WTA Tier II (UAE) - Hard Court, Round of 16 << |
| | Mauresmo held off Medina Garrigues in a tough first set, and that proved the vital turning point in the game. She is still looking several cogs below her best, and doubt we'll probably see that again. Morigami is a lucky loser here but has played some great tennis nonetheless beating Savchuk, Morita and then a surprise win against the promising Szavay 6-1 6-4 yesterday. She will make Mauresmo hit every ball back and has some good counterpunching abilities to be able to go on the attack if needed, but will need to put a little more on her usually soft first delivery to trouble the French lady. You know my story with Amelie - she's not worth betting on, and again here today against this style of player Amelie is not even near a certainty to progress because the experienced Japanese player only needs to stay patient and pick her shots wisely to have a good crack at this one. |
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| | Feb 24 2008 21:30:01
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 7-6(1) 6-0 at Dubai WTA Tier II (UAE) - Hard Court, Qualifying Rnd << |
| | Srebotnik is enjoying a purple patch as we all know and has outclassed both opponents in qualifying up to this stage for this tournament. Morigami did it much tougher as she overcame a slow start to beat compatriot and rising star Ayumi Morita in 3 sets. The consistent Jap is not the worst player and she has a great ability to retrieve and counter punch, but does lack a real go-to weapon that can hurt her opponents. She relies on both forced and unforced errors coming from the other side of the net, but Srebotnik is unlikely to give her this. The Slovenian has a decent serve, solid groundies and great movement and volleying skills so will be putting Morigami under pressure from all angles. Kata won this encounter very easily at the US Open two years ago, and has only got better since that point. She is a more worthy main draw entrant so let's hope fate plays its part. |
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| | Feb 17 2008 00:56:01
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 7-5 6-0 at Doha WTA Tier I (QAT) - Hard Court, Round of 56 << |
| | Talented Japanese Morigami has a good all round game - she is quick around the court, hits very solidly off both wings and rarely plays a bad match. She is adept at most surfaces, and she helped Japan to a win over Croatia in Fed Cup last week with two good victories. Her opponent is the fast-rising Radwanska - quarter finallist at Melbourne Park and proving to be a big one to watch in 08 with top 10 in her sights. The Pole dismantled Morigami easily at the US Open last year, and the court surface and formlines are no different here. Radwanska is confident and fresh from a win in Pattaya city as top seed where she lost only set (in the final vs Craybas) and should pack too many punches for Morigami who will be run off her feet. |
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| | Jan 15 2008 23:08:28
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Akiko Morigami (JPN) 6-1 6-1 at Australian Open WTA Slam (AUS) - Hard Court, Round of 64 << |
| | Akiko Morigami was the late mail against the inconsistent Michaella Krajicek, and landed the good bets with a convincing 2 and 2 victory. Maria Kirilenko, another solid baseliner with very quick foot speed, had a fantastic 07 but her form tapered off towards the end of the year. The Russian glamour girl took 3 sets to defeat veteran American Meilen Tu in a baseline slug in the first round, but will need to change things up against Morigami who is a very versatile and consistent player. The Japanese player is quick around the court, returns serve well, and has a good forehand stroke capable of hitting winners. She is playing well, and also boasts a 2-0 record over Kirilenko, both matches on hard courts. Kirilenko is a better player than she was back then, and considering both matches were played in Morigami's home town of Tokyo, you feel things are evened out in this game and Maria will have her chance and will prevail in probably 3 sets. |
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| | Jan 12 2008 01:29:34
thedestroyer9 (Mod)
8 (4318) Posts
150 (17834) Aces
Login to give Aces | | Akiko Morigami (JPN) d. Michaella Krajicek (NED) 6-2 6-2 at Australian Open WTA Slam (AUS) - Hard Court, Round of 128 << |
| | Morigami is a very tough opponent because she hits a lot of balls back, yet has the ability to hit lots of winners also. She tested Venus at Wimbledon last year, and Venus later said she was lucky to get through that match. Krajicek has a very good serve, but has lacked that in recent losses to Errani (Auckland) and Knapp (Linz). She tends to lose lots of matches she is expected to win, but when she is on a roll you wonder why because she's very talented at her best. Morigami won an epic the only time they met previously, and you get the feeling there could be a few breaks of serve here. At the value, I think Morigami can make amends for some recent patchy serve and knock out Krajicek in the first round for the second year running. |
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