Anna Leigh Waters vs Hannah Blatt at the Veolia Texas Open

And Hannah Blatt will serve to start us off in our first match of the day. This will be the first meeting on the singles court between these two. Waters goes for the lob, Greg. She had a chance to kind of get established at the kitchen line, but chose not to on that. Interesting turn in that point. Just that backhand out of the air, crisp winner for Waters. Yeah, the depth of both those shots from the backhand wing from Annalia are just so good. Everything's afoot from the baseline. I got a little strategy from Hannah this morning. She's in our Airbnb that we're staying at. She's got roommates with her right now. I think she felt pretty confident. Talking about how she wants to approach to the forehand when she comes in, as much as possible to keep away from the Annalia backhand. Yeah, she sounded pretty confident this morning. Confidence is kind of step one to wanting to pull off the upset. You have to believe in yourself before anyone else does. And it's nice for her because she's never played Annalia. Right. So she can have maybe a little more confidence. If she'd played her twice before and lost two and two, then maybe a little less confidence. You see it right there, the approach to the forehand, and it pays off. Absolutely. And then a nice slice approach as well, kept it low. Another nice shot. This time goes topspin, backhand, tries to pass. Doesn't quite get the path, but does force the air. Tied at two early. And three in a row, and that strategy that you mentioned, Greg, working. Get the ball to the forehand, get to the kitchen, taking chances. It's working right now. That's the one she doesn't want to... Even though Annalia leaves the backhand corner open, Hannah falls for the trap and comes in off the Annalia backhand. A little kind of yell to reset the momentum, I guess, if your Annalia waters. Very strategic with the use. Don't like to hear Annalia being vocal out there. Maybe a quick timeout. I might have used it here, but... And it was an excellent return from Black that got an attackable lob, defensive lob from Waters, but the forehand volley just wasn't going to cut it on that one. And now we get a timeout from Hannah Black, 20-23, and her and Catherine Parenteau lost to women's doubles in 20-24. I remember that against, like, Etta and, like, Callie Smith or something. I remember that match. And it was, like, seven and six or something. It was, like, two games. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't, like... The scoreline was kind of crazy. That stays in. Wow! From defense to offense from Hannah Black. Nice low forehand volley as well. Gets the serve back after a five-point swing. And maybe a little help off the net there from that forehand from Waters. For sure. I think it's a good play from Hannah. A good point. Did all you could. You just got a little unlucky. It had to be made. Black still opting to approach to the forehand. I mean, she's sticking to that pattern, to that strategy. I mean, even that ball, like, it's gotta be made. Triples down on that corner, does waters, and the angle on that initial backhand, that short backhand, was exquisite. It was exquisite, I like that word, exquisite. It was exquisite. Like, the B. Just wide from Blatt. Seems like she was on that backhand. All the best out to him. Oh, goodness, pin is there, but closed from Annaleigh Waters. What a volley from Blatt. Got so low, kept it just over the net. Such a tough volley, she made that look really easy. Delicate touch. Oh, somehow, still pin. But too much from Waters, Greg, I kinda heard you have an exclamation in the middle of that rally. I just felt like she was volleying well, kind of established in the kitchen, like 50-50, and then she decided to take a step back into the mid-court on a ball, and then approach back to Annaleigh's backhand. Still made that next volley, but Annaleigh got back control of the point after that. Waters coming back with a forehand angle of her own on that volley. And timeout called by Hannah Blatt, trailing by three, this one, still early in the second game. Wasn't sure if, we're not in the best place to make a call, wasn't sure if that forehand from Blatt was wide, but no call for Waters, and missed return gets Blatt on the board. It was badly missed. Nice cover there from Blatt, and again, the approach to the forehand, finding success with that. Definitely has the right strategy, yeah. Can she continue to execute that strong backhand up the line? Dipping shot, Waters was falling backwards. What a defensive lob, though. She's had a couple of those, and it's landed like a couple inches from the baseline. You just gotta avoid the backhand at all costs here, if you're Hannah. Maybe not. Maybe not, I was just about to say. Classic Greg there. I do think, I know she missed that one, but it's... Not an optimal. It's clearly been her better shot this match, right? Oh! Just catches the tape. Bit of a, kind of, drip drop. It's a good look, yeah. Annalise figured out that Blatt backhand is definitely the spot to go, on the return, especially, and the approaches, as you can see there. That comes to fruition fully on that rally. Saw the approach to the backhand. Most people don't like deep backhand corners. Passing shots. Annalise, an exception to that. But generally speaking, if you're playing singles against anybody, if you hit it deep to their backhand, they're not gonna love that shot. You know what I mean? So that's just, kind of, a basic strategy against 99% of players. Annaleigh is really good from there, but. Makeable volley missed, dumped into the net. Sometimes you feel like you have too many options. Yeah, that was one of them. Two-six. Gosh. Oh! That out. Fade away winner from Waters. That was so sick. And another amazing defensive lob from Blatt here. She's money with those, but. Just completely. Six-two. Almost, kind of, like a spin through that. Yes. Feathery touch from Blatt on that volley. What a get. Again, hitting it from below the net and keeping it just barely. Yeah, that's a really, really tough one. Annaleigh's probably there if it doesn't hit the net, but still, she's not in a great position. The shot-making out in full force. Oh. That out. Two in a row from both of these amazing athletes. Six-two. And the lob serve from Waters. And that is, if you're not expecting it, the lob serve can really cause some issues. I think Hannah almost did, like, a drop shot return there. It's not a great. I feel like she sometimes gets away with it when it's not. Could also be better if she did a normal serve. But I don't know, it's so tough. I want to see other players do the lob serve successfully before I think, oh, this is actually a good strategy that can, for people other than Annaleigh. It's working now. It surely is. Three lob serves, three points for Waters. But would she have gotten those three points anyways, even if she just served normally? That's what I'm saying. I don't know. Goodness gracious, angry, furious combination there from the top seed makes it match point 10-two. Backhand, lethal. 10-two. It's definitely working on Blatt, that's for sure. The lob return did not get it done as Annaleigh Waters kicks off round 16 day with an 11-3, 11-2 victory over number 17 seed Hannah Blatt, the top seed.