We saw Linda smile..

And that really doesn't happen very often.

After dominating the Brit Kartal, we finally saw a smiling Noskova satisfied with her game in the interview. It had been a long time since we’d seen her with that level of confidence. Her serve is sniper-worthy: precise, cold, and destructive. In Beijing, she’s winning 71% of points behind her first serve, with very little waste. Nearly perfect tennis.

Opposite her, Jess, 31 years old, is coming off a third straight three-set match, that’s 7 hours 45 minutes spent on court (versus 5 hours 35 minutes for the Czech), in heavy, humid conditions.. You can feel an American who totally controls her tennis, makes her opponents run, and imposes fine technical quality, but who sometimes lets up.

This duel promises to be a real arm-wrestle, in the vein of Anisimova–Paolini: an ultra-punchy server facing a complete player who’s a bit physically worn. With her freshness and renewed confidence, Linda has the weapons to make this match much more balanced than the 60/40 shown by the books. Plus, Linda has already beaten Jess this year in Dubai: a 6/3 7/6 win.