Patience Beats Pace

It felt like the match should end in a tie. And throughout much of the third set, Shahar Peer and Nicole Vaidisova were dead even.
Looking up to her box of family constantly for support, Vaidisova played some brilliant offense, hitting a flat ball very reminiscent of Linsday Davenport. Except Vaidsova has wheels too.
Her Achilles' heel? She either cannot play at the net or was having a horrendous night up there. Whether ditching volleys in the net or letting balls go that she could have and should have played, Vaidisova had her chances.
Peer wasn't pushing the ball, except for her serve. The winning serve was, as Peer noted afterwards, a pitiful 68 miles per hour. But she played tremendous defense, getting balls back that Vaidisova probably thought would be winners.
I often thought when Lindsay Davenport was playing at the top of her form that the longer the point went, the likelier it was that Davenport would lose it. I think the same can be said of Vaidisova. She needs to win a point within the first two or three times the ball comes back to her or her opponent is likely to tough it out. It's a tough way to win, but if you have almost no touch, or no patience to mix some touch shots in with the blasts, that's the way it goes.
Another model for Vaidisova though might be Mary Pierce, who came out on the tour blasting away. But she gradually learned to become a wilier player.
Peer was mixing things up nicely, even if she did more than once go for a ridiculous shot that wasn't there, and had, without question, the stupidest challenge thus far in the tournament, a Vaidisova serve that was well within the service line.
Peer came to win though. Peer would close her eyes and visualize it. She'd slow the pace of the match down between points that way.
And now she's sped her way into the round of 16 in a very open bottom half of the draw.