The always awesome Flavi continued her domination of my lady, throwing down a 64 63 spanking. I mean, really, it wasn't even as close as the scoreline. Flavi clearly has a read on Sam's serve, returning everything (Sam had ZERO aces for the match), and using her backhand up the line effectively. At this point, the book on Sam isn't a secret: return well, and use the BHDTL to force Sam to hit her forehand on the run (which basically sucks balls) which then opens up her weak backhand. Vika did it last week and Flavia did it this week. Neither player has ever lost to Sam.
As for Sam, another disappointing loss. But I'm glad the news of her arm problems are now public because I've been saddled with that news for a while now and I had to keep my mouth shut. I actually wasn't sure she'd even play San Diego. After the match, she said that she's feeling a constant ache in her arm and would visit the doctor to see what's up. And contrary to what Victoria and Matt Cronin think, no, I haven't seen her MRIs.
They weren't in her room last time I checked.
I'm really hoping she pulls out of Cincy. There's no reason she should be playing four straight weeks anyway, let alone doing it while injured. The Hammer is nothing without, well, her hammer.
Oh, and before anyone tries to get on Sam's case for even discussing her injury, she didn't bring it up, nor, as far as I know, did she blame it for her loss. Sam's a jock. That's not her way. The reality is that she's been hiding it. She's been feeling the pain since Stanford but when asked directly in a presser last week about whether she was feeling healthy, she simply referred to "some niggles" that she hoped wouldn't become serious.
But boy, I'm so happy for Flavi. She's playing really well and seems to be on the verge of turning around her rather disappointing season. I remember watching her practice at Indian Wells and she was thoroughly frustrated, arguing with Gaby, and losing in the early rounds everywhere. It's nice to see her playing well and happy. Word on the street is that she's giving amazingly charming pressers. Nice to see you back, woman.
But why did it have to be at the expense of Sam? Why???
