04-25-2018, 01:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-25-2018, 01:52 PM by ColoradoTree.)
Live scoring should be available here: http://pac-12.com/tennis/championships-2018/scores
Doesn't seem to be working at the moment, though.
Now that Washington has beaten Colorado (4-1), Stanford's quarterfinal opponent is locked in, so let's take another look at the Huskies. The match is tomorrow at 2:00pm.
Washington preview:
UW disappointed somewhat over the course of the year, though a strong finish got them close to where I figured they'd be. I thought they'd be around 5th in the conference, and late-season upsets over Cal and Wazzu meant they tied for 5th but ended up with the 8 seed, because while they beat two teams seeded higher than they are (#4 Cal and #5 Wazzu), they played poorly against two of the other tied teams (Oregon and USC).
But make no mistake--this is a team capable of more than they've shown all year. We just saw them a couple of weeks ago, so we found out firsthand how well UW is playing to finish the season (beating Cal and pushing us to the limit).
What are they good at?
Start at the top. Stacey Fung is 15th in the country, and just in the last two weeks, she rolled over Cal's #1, Julia Rosenqvist, in straight sets, and beat Wazzu's Bayerlova in three sets (her match vs. Michaela Gordon was tied at 3-3 in the third set when it was abandoned). Both she and Gordon look like they'll be All-Americans this year. Vanessa Wong is a dangerous #2, as she showed by outlasting Melissa Lord in three sets in Seattle, but she has been wildly inconsistent. At #3, Miki Kobayashi cruised past Lampl, 6-1, 6-1, in something of a shock result for both players.
They're not as strong in doubles (Stanford won 6-2 at #2, 6-4 at #3, and was up 5-2 at #1), so a Washington upset would almost certainly need 4 singles wins, with the top 3 courts among that number.
Matchups:
1. #16 Gordon vs. #15 Fung
2. #68 Lord vs. #50 Wong
3. #94 Lampl vs. Kobayashi
4. #51 Arbuthnott vs. Prokopuik
5. #95 Shin vs. Hance
6. #109 Higuchi vs. Kopcalic
At #1, you can pick the past results you want to focus on to predict this one. Of the 5 ranked conference opponents they've both played, both beat Cal's Rosenqvist and basically both beat ASU's John-Baptiste (Gordon won 6-3, 6-0; Fung's match was abandoned with her leading 6-1, 5-1). Of the other three, Gordon beat USC's Smith handily while Fung lost in three, but Gordon lost in three sets to both Oregon's Tobita and WSU's Bayerlova, while Fung beat both players in three sets. Predict this one at your peril (and let's hope Stanford doesn't need this point to win the match).
Team comparisons:
* UCLA: Stanford won 4-3; UW lost 4-0 (but without Fung)
* USC: Stanford won 4-0; UW lost 4-3
* ASU: Stanford won 4-0; UW lost 4-0
* Oregon: Stanford won 6-1; UW lost 5-2
* WSU: Stanford won 4-2; UW won 5-2
* Cal: Stanford won 4-0; UW won 5-2
How to follow: Live scoring should be available at this website (http://pac-12.com/tennis/championships-2018/scores)
Prediction: Stanford wins the rematch 4-0, behind the doubles point and singles wins on the back three courts. Lampl gives a much better accounting of herself in the rematch, and is leading narrowly when the match is clinched, with Lord leading a close one and Gordon locked in a battle when their matches are abandoned.
Doesn't seem to be working at the moment, though.
Now that Washington has beaten Colorado (4-1), Stanford's quarterfinal opponent is locked in, so let's take another look at the Huskies. The match is tomorrow at 2:00pm.
Washington preview:
UW disappointed somewhat over the course of the year, though a strong finish got them close to where I figured they'd be. I thought they'd be around 5th in the conference, and late-season upsets over Cal and Wazzu meant they tied for 5th but ended up with the 8 seed, because while they beat two teams seeded higher than they are (#4 Cal and #5 Wazzu), they played poorly against two of the other tied teams (Oregon and USC).
But make no mistake--this is a team capable of more than they've shown all year. We just saw them a couple of weeks ago, so we found out firsthand how well UW is playing to finish the season (beating Cal and pushing us to the limit).
What are they good at?
Start at the top. Stacey Fung is 15th in the country, and just in the last two weeks, she rolled over Cal's #1, Julia Rosenqvist, in straight sets, and beat Wazzu's Bayerlova in three sets (her match vs. Michaela Gordon was tied at 3-3 in the third set when it was abandoned). Both she and Gordon look like they'll be All-Americans this year. Vanessa Wong is a dangerous #2, as she showed by outlasting Melissa Lord in three sets in Seattle, but she has been wildly inconsistent. At #3, Miki Kobayashi cruised past Lampl, 6-1, 6-1, in something of a shock result for both players.
They're not as strong in doubles (Stanford won 6-2 at #2, 6-4 at #3, and was up 5-2 at #1), so a Washington upset would almost certainly need 4 singles wins, with the top 3 courts among that number.
Matchups:
1. #16 Gordon vs. #15 Fung
2. #68 Lord vs. #50 Wong
3. #94 Lampl vs. Kobayashi
4. #51 Arbuthnott vs. Prokopuik
5. #95 Shin vs. Hance
6. #109 Higuchi vs. Kopcalic
At #1, you can pick the past results you want to focus on to predict this one. Of the 5 ranked conference opponents they've both played, both beat Cal's Rosenqvist and basically both beat ASU's John-Baptiste (Gordon won 6-3, 6-0; Fung's match was abandoned with her leading 6-1, 5-1). Of the other three, Gordon beat USC's Smith handily while Fung lost in three, but Gordon lost in three sets to both Oregon's Tobita and WSU's Bayerlova, while Fung beat both players in three sets. Predict this one at your peril (and let's hope Stanford doesn't need this point to win the match).
Team comparisons:
* UCLA: Stanford won 4-3; UW lost 4-0 (but without Fung)
* USC: Stanford won 4-0; UW lost 4-3
* ASU: Stanford won 4-0; UW lost 4-0
* Oregon: Stanford won 6-1; UW lost 5-2
* WSU: Stanford won 4-2; UW won 5-2
* Cal: Stanford won 4-0; UW won 5-2
How to follow: Live scoring should be available at this website (http://pac-12.com/tennis/championships-2018/scores)
Prediction: Stanford wins the rematch 4-0, behind the doubles point and singles wins on the back three courts. Lampl gives a much better accounting of herself in the rematch, and is leading narrowly when the match is clinched, with Lord leading a close one and Gordon locked in a battle when their matches are abandoned.