01-25-2020, 08:45 PM
The lineup looks like it was much what I thought it would be: Gordon at 1, Arbuthnott at 2, Blake at 3, Shin at 4, and Higuchi at 6. Interestingly, it’s Choy over Madurawe in the 5 slot, but this is pretty much our ideal lineup, I think. (I’m agnostic as to which of Choy or Madurawe is better, but I like Blake being higher and not pushing Shin higher than she should be. As for Higuchi at 6, why mess with success, right?)
Doubles-wise, this lineup seems about right. I’m very pleased with this.
As for how things played out, we saw our ace dominant at #1, we saw Higuchi first off court at #6, and we got the clincher from the back half of the lineup. Very familiar, and very comforting.
Of course, Arbuthnott struggling at #2, and Shin struggling playing higher than last year is frustratingly predictable. (We know this because, well, we predicted it.)
But this is the roadmap. This is how this team is going to win. A lot of 5-2s and 4-3s, maybe, but we’re going to continue to rely on 5 and 6, and we’ll count more on 1 than we have in the recent past. Luckily, Michaela looks up to the task, but you never want to be too dependent on winning a coin flip between two top 10 players late in the season.
Doubles-wise, this lineup seems about right. I’m very pleased with this.
As for how things played out, we saw our ace dominant at #1, we saw Higuchi first off court at #6, and we got the clincher from the back half of the lineup. Very familiar, and very comforting.
Of course, Arbuthnott struggling at #2, and Shin struggling playing higher than last year is frustratingly predictable. (We know this because, well, we predicted it.)
But this is the roadmap. This is how this team is going to win. A lot of 5-2s and 4-3s, maybe, but we’re going to continue to rely on 5 and 6, and we’ll count more on 1 than we have in the recent past. Luckily, Michaela looks up to the task, but you never want to be too dependent on winning a coin flip between two top 10 players late in the season.