WTA Finals 2026, Indian Wells, USA

[MargaretMcAleer]

2nd singles match
Gauff v Pegula
Coco struggling on her first serve a couple of DFs and Jess has 3 BPs
Coco saved all BPs, with a good over head volley to bring it back to deuce,
Great touch with a cross court volley from Gauff and saved all BPs, Jess will be disappointed
Gauff leads 5-4
Gauff has 2 SPs and now has a chance to win the 1st set, good movement and coming to the net
Jess saved BPs and with a good 1st serve, brings it back to deuce
Gauff with her 3SP and looking at a 2nd serve, great movement and get from Jess, back to deuce
Gauff with her 4th SP
Jess with a bhand that went long
Gauff wins the 1st set 64

Momentum shift in the 2nd set Jess Pegula leads 3-0,
Change of pace from Gauff, more aggressive especially on the return of serve, get 1 of the breaks back
Jess with a BP and breaks Gauff on a 2nd serve return, Gauff has already made 15 UFE so far in the 2nd set, needs to address them
Pegula leads 4-1 and consolidates her serve and leads 5-1
Pegula will serve for the 2nd set 5-2, Jess has been directing a lot of her shots towards Gauff fhand with results
Gauff with 2 BPs, Jess saves 1 with a good first serve
Gauff breaks more aggressive and coming to the net
Pegula leads 5-3, Gauff holds
Pegula with her 2nd chance to serve out the 2nd set 5-4
Brain freeze from Pegula attempting a drop shot from the baseline? no wonder if found the net......
Apparently Pegula dosent want to win the 2nd set, she has backed off, too passive now when it counts, with a good first serve, now makes an error with her return, Pegula now decides to be aggressive and guess what she won the point
SP for Pegula and Gauff is lifting and wins the points with a great volley, deuce
BP for Gauff and she is making this 2nd set more physical now, Gauff breaks again, never count this young lady out she will go down fighting
5 games all 2nd set
Jess with a great bhand down the line brings up a couple of BPs, snuffed out by Gauff she is making Pegula work so hard
Back to deuce Pegula with a great volley, Gauff ups again and produces a bhand winner, Jess with a good ROS, back to deuce
This has become of a Tug of War
Remember Gauff was 1-5 in this 2nd set, back to deuce, Jess with a good ROS, I am getting mentally tired just watching this 2nd set, I dont know about either player
Gauff holds and what a turnaround in this match, Pegula had all the momentum in this 2nd set, until Gauff changed things around, up her game and kept her aggressive play, not so many UFE.
Pegula will serve to stay in the 2nd set at 5-6
MP for Gauff as Pegula is just rushing her shots, back to deuce, Gauff played too passive on that point
Over head lob from Gauff long, Pegula holds as Gauff fhand long, 6 games all
A TB for the 2nd set with Gauff to serve 1st
Pegula going after the ball in the TB and it is working, she leads 5-4 in the TB and on her serve
SP for Pegula though we have seen this movie before? Pegula volley long MEH
Pegula with a ROS and yes she wins the 2nd set 76 (5) I need a strong drink..............
Going 3

The best set Gauff played defeats Pegula 62 in the 3rd
Gauff d Pegula 64 67(5) 62

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The first doubles match,
Errani/Paolini (8) d No 2 seeds Siniakova/Townsend 46 61 10-8

The second doubles match
Bucsa/Melichar (4) d Perez/Schuurs (6) 60 64

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Order of play,
Monday 9th November,
Starts at 12pm,

Sabalenka (2) vs Muchova (7)
Andreeva (3) vs Svitolina (6)

Doubles matches,
Dabrowski/Stefani (1) vs Mertens/Zhang (7)
Guo/Mladenovic (3) vs Ostapenko/Hsieh Su-Wei (5)

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Andreeva d Svitolina 64 60
Don't expect a hand skake from Svitolina
I will watch the highlights of the match when I get home from the gym

In the first match between Sabalenka v Muchova ,

Sabalenka started slow and Muchova was serving for the 1st set, when Saba got her timing and pushed it to a TB which she won 76(2)
I always find this match up between these 2 players, they seem to play their best against one another
BTW Sabalenka and Max Miryni have parted ways, Max was a part of Saba's coaching team for 1 year, mainly to help with Saba's volleys etc and net game
In the 2nd set Saba was serving for the match at 5-4 and Muchova broke, due to Saba movement, it does help to move ones feet and she was 'over thinking'
5 games all and Saba broke back and on her 2nd MP defeated Muchova 76(2) 75
Muchova pushed Sabalenka all the way in this match

News,
Sabalenka has brought back her mental coach she dropped in 2023? she finally listened to moi about time, lets see the difference and more calm in her mental approach to her game, when things get tough.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

In the first doubles match,
Dabrowski/Stefani (1) d Mertens/Zhang 63 76(5)

The 2nd doubles match,

Mladenovic/Guo ( 3) d Ostapenko/Hsieh Su-Wei (5) 61 36 12-10

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Order of play,
Tuesday November 10th
Starts 12pm,

Pegula (5) vs Kostyuk ( 1st alternate)
Gauff (4) vs Noskova (8)

Doubles matches,

Siniakova/Townsend (2) vs Perez/Schuurs (6)
Melichar/Martinez/ Bucsa (4) vs Errani/Paolini (8)

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Pegula won with ease 62 over Kostyuk in the 1st set
On serve early in the 2nd serve 3 games all
I would like to see how Kostyuk handles a match without her coach telling her where to stand to receive and what shot to play?
4 games all
Battle of the bhands by both players, both players bhands have crumbled when needed
Kostyuk finally holds, Pegula had 2Bps but failed to convert
Kostyuk leads 5-4
5 games all
Pegula with 2 BPs and snuffs 1 back with a good overhead, good 1st serve by Kostyuk, back to deuce
Pegula breaks, DF by Kostyuk
Pegula will serve for the match 6-5
Pegula d Kostyuk 62 75, Pegula the more consistent of the two in this match,, Pegula gets her first win in the tournament.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Noskova d Gauff 63 63
As I was out I will watch the high lights later
Noskova seals a SF spot after her straight sets win over Gauff

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

In the first doubles match,

Siniakova/Townsend (2) d Perez/Schuurs 76(2) 63
Perez/Schuurs are out they had to win to stay alive

In the 2nd doubles match

Errani/Paolini (8) d Melichar-Martinez (4) 36 62 10-7
Errani/Paolini advance to the SFs

It will be Siniakova/Townsned v Melichar-Martinez to decide the last spot

 

[kskate2]

Coco was as flat as a tack. I think she's giving Linda too much confidence. It's in her head now that she will have a hard time dealing w/ her going forward.

Jaz was on fire tonight. They started slowly in that 1st set, but man did she remember who she was. She barely missed a shot in set 2 and the MTB

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Coco was as flat as a tack. I think she's giving Linda too much confidence. It's in her head now that she will have a hard time dealing w/ her going forward.

Jaz was on fire tonight. They started slowly in that 1st set, but man did she remember who she was. She barely missed a shot in set 2 and the MTB

Coco's previous match against Jess was very physical, I just finished watching highlights of Coco v Linda's match, yep she was flat

Good to see Jaz finally firing even though it is late in the season

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Order of Play,
Wednesday November 11
Starts at 12pm,

Svitolina (6) vs Muchova (7)
Sabalenkova (2) vs Andreeva (3)

Doubles matches,

Dabrowski/Stefani (1) vs Mladenovic/Guo (3)
Mertens /Zhang (7) vs Ostpapenko/Hsieh (5)

 

[Fiero425]

Coco was as flat as a tack. I think she's giving Linda too much confidence. It's in her head now that she will have a hard time dealing w/ her going forward.

Jaz was on fire tonight. They started slowly in that 1st set, but man did she remember who she was. She barely missed a shot in set 2 and the MTB

I didn't see it! I can only guess Coco used up all she had overcoming Jessica yesterday! Looks as if routine for top players to WD! Poor Elena!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Group 1 standings
BTW the WTA could have used champion players of the past instead of using Group 1 and Group 2 something to think about for the 2027 end of year finals.

1. Noskova, 2-0, 4-0 Qualified for SF
2. Pegula 1-1, 3-2
3. Gauff 1-1, 2-3
4. Kostyuk Eliminated

On Thursday, Pegula and Gauff are fighting for the 2nd SF spot

Noskova vs Pegula
Gauff vs Kostyuk

 

[lomaha]

Agree with your comments Elena looked fine yesterday, rumor has it she and Vukok apparently had a disagreement? that should not be an excuse for her withdrawal, as I posted ' she has a viral illness' though on social media a lot of people were saying just like you it is strange and indeed she seemed fine yesterday.
Agree, another Ukrainian with their funky kind of politics on display, this has gotten 'warring' to say the least. Sport in Politics should not happen full stop in my opinion

I disagree. I don't care if the russian or belarus players didn't start the war. There should be as much pressure as you can make in any situation to make the people in these country put pressure on their government to end the war. And excluding them from all kinds of things - including sportevents - can help with that.

The ukranian players have families in danger everyday. I stand with them on this.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I disagree. I don't care if the russian or belarus players didn't start the war. There should be as much pressure as you can make in any situation to make the people in these country put pressure on their government to end the war. And excluding them from all kinds of things - including sportevents - can help with that.

The ukranian players have families in danger everyday. I stand with them on this.

Well we will have to agree to disagree for starters I dont agree with Politics in Sports period !