A Polish fortress!
against Jones’s fraud!
A 21-year-old Czech player naturalized Polish, I discovered her when I was living in Poland and following local matches. I quickly realized this young woman didn’t like losing a point. It’s both a strength… and a weakness, because the goal is still to win more points than you lose. To show such aggression, she relies on a defense like the Great Wall of China. Always very hard to break. A junior semifinal at Wimbledon came along to confirm these promising beginnings.
Today, her profile is still roughly the same: fast surfaces, blazing defense, and XXL movement. Her main drawback is a serve that’s too shaky, not dangerous enough, and clearly far too many double faults. Linda isn’t super powerful, but she often surprises with her speed and constantly tries to take the lead quickly, breaking more than she gets broken. On the other hand, once she’s completely outplayed, she tends to let the match go quite fast. Surprising.
Jones, what can I say… She plays with a clear handicap, but regularly abuses strategic MTOs or retirements. Siniakova, world No. 1 in doubles, even suggested contacting the WTA authorities to investigate her repeated retirements when she’s trailing. She’s still a real handful on hard courts though, with a lot of variety. She’s a fine strategist, but not always very ethical.
Jones has never won a single first round in a Grand Slam in five attempts. Her latest retirement dates back barely ten days, for a leg injury and a physical condition deemed degraded according to the ASB Auckland website. Another troubling fact: when she was down against Kraus, she also took an MTO for her leg which totally threw the Austrian off… and it worked, and she was running like Kevin Mayer in the decathlon ^^
One thing is certain: her physical condition is fragile, linked to her congenital condition (8 fingers, 7 toes). Between real suffering and acting, the question always remains. Linda is playing her first Grand Slams here, will fully enjoy the experience in discovery mode, but with a very defensive profile. There will be as much technical tactics as mental strategy in this match.
Who will be the stronger one?
