CITI OPEN WOMEN’S MAIN DRAW FIELD UPDATED WITH CHIRICO, BROADY, AND RYBARIKOVA
Magda Rybarikova
WASHINGTON (July 5, 2016) — Two-time Citi Open champion Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia moves into the tournament main draw field, along with American Louisa Chirico, Great Britain’s Naomi Broady, and Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak.
Rybarikova moves into the main draw following Margarita Gasparyan’s withdrawal due to a knee injury. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia has also withdrawn due to a low back injury, and will be replaced by Wozniak in the main draw.
Brits Fall on Rain-Hit Day in Eastbourne Elliott Cornish for Tennis Atlantic from Eastbourne
EASTBOURNE—British trio Heather Watson, Tara Moore and Naomi Broady all suffered first-round defeats on a rain-affected day at the Aegon International in Eastbourne.
Watson, the British number two, would have been hopeful of a deep run on home soil in the last Wimbledon warm-up but missed chances throughout against Elena Vesnina, losing 6-2 6-3 in an hour and 12 minutes.
The Russian saved all six break points she faced – three in each set – ensuring she was always in control of the contest. Vesnina also prevailed when the pair last played at Eastbourne in 2013, and will now face defending champion Belinda Bencic in round two.
Wildcard Moore failed to capitalise on a productive past few weeks, falling 7-5 6-4 to Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova in the second match of the afternoon. The Brit begun brightly in the apparent mismatch – she is ranked 190 places below Makarova at 229 – breaking for a 5-3 lead in the eighth game.
However, three set points spurned on serve, followed by two more in the following game, put paid to her chances. After losing two lengthy games, Moore succumbed quickly from 5-5, dropping the final eight points of the set.
Makarova broke midway through the second to assert further command, but was made to work for the victory after she was broken while serving for the match. However, Moore’s inexperience eventually showed, as Makarova broke for a fourth time to seal the win and a second-round meeting with the second seed Roberta Vinci.
Kate Makarova (Photo: Chris Levy @Tennis_Shots)
Broady, sister of ATP player Liam, was unable to get a foothold against qualifier Monica Puig, picking up just two games in a 60–minute rout. The Puerto Rican broke the Briton’s serve five times, while Broady could not create even a single break point.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard made swift work of Varvara Lepchenko on Court 1, breezing through 6-1 6-2 in under an hour. The Canadian, who has slipped to 48th in the rankings, will play Irina-Camelia Begu in the last 32.
Elsewhere, Andrea Petkovic scraped through against China’s Saisai Zheng in the day’s only three-setter. The lucky loser snatched the first set 7-5, but a determined Petkovic fought back – winning the last two sets 6-2 6-4 – to advance in two hours 42 minutes.
Heavy rain prevented any play before 3pm, and only six matches were completed on Monday after play on all outside courts was called off. However, the tournament will be confident in making up for lost time with the forecast looking much brighter for the rest of the week.
Tuesday’s matches
Top seed Agniezska Radwanska and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will enter the fray on Tuesday. The former will take on either Denise Allertova or Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, while Kvitova is first on Centre Court versus Timea Babos.
Monday’s cancelled match between Caroline Wozniacki and Sam Stosur will be second on Centre, and 11th seed and home favourite Johanna Konta will also open her bid on Tuesday against Lesia Tsurenko or Zhang Shuai.
In Tuesday’s other selected matches, Timea Bacsinszky will face Kristina Mladenovic and Vesnina will square off against Bencic.
Qualifying Complete @CitiOpen: @RyanHarrison92, @NaomiBroady Interviews, Monday OOP Steve Fogleman, Tennis Atlantic
Ryan Harrison qualified for the main draw at Citi Open today, and became the only ATP American man to do so. Harrison upended Mischa Zverev 6-3, 7-6(3).
Darian King, you’re from Barbados? It’s always been close enough for us! King, who I last saw in Charlottesville (where he was defaulted for not hitting a linesman with his racket toss), played a solid match against Ze Zhang, taking the match back into his own hands each time Zhang attempted to pull ahead.
In the last match of the day, American Sanaz Marand pulled a rabbit out of her hat in outlasting #2 qualifying seed Elizaveta Kulichkova 7-6(9), 7-6(6).
The Belarussian you expected in the main draw (Vika) couldn’t make it, but An-Sophie Mestach was happy to become the second Belgian there as she advanced to the main draw at Citi Open with a sound thrashing of Tamira Paszek. Does that make any sense? As for expectations as the top seed in qualifying, Mestach said “the last couple of tournaments I’ve played, I’ve been the first seed. It doesn’t make a difference. Tamira Paszek, she’s been injured but she’s coming back. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match.”
Mestach will play doubles with fellow Belgian main draw participant Alison Van Uytanck.
Naomi Broady is such an amazing person. She has put up with too much, having been both an early adopter and early victim of social media. England’s Lawn Tennis Association tried to pretend like she didn’t exist, but indeed she does. She spoke with me today about the challenges of going it alone when your national association turns their back on you for something that wouldn’t even register today on the internet. Don’t even get me started about those national associations, USTA. Oh, and yes, Broady qualified big time for Citi Open, beating Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3&3 today. 24 aces and straight sets on the weekend. Take that, you stodgy posh toffs at the LTA. She got on without you. Imagine that.
Nothing like a little love and affection to end a post. Tomorrow awaits!
CITI OPEN – WASHINGTON, D.C., USA
USD 1,753,020.00 (ATP)
USD 250,000.00 (WTA)
3 – 9 AUGUST 2015
ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, AUGUST 03, 2015
STADIUM COURT start 1:50 pm
WTA – [WC] L. Chirico (USA) vs H. Watson (GBR)
Not Before 4:00 pm
ATP – J. Duckworth (AUS) vs [Q] R. Harrison (USA)
Not Before 5:30 pm
ATP – [Q] Y. Nishioka (JPN) vs A. Zverev (GER)
Not Before 7:30 pm
ATP – D. Young (USA) vs [WC] T. Haas (GER)
ATP – [3] R. Bopanna (IND) / F. Mergea (ROU) vs A. Murray (GBR) / D. Nestor (CAN)
GRANDSTAND 1 start 2:15 pm
WTA – M. Brengle (USA) vs [6] I. Begu (ROU)
Not Before 4:00 pm
ATP – D. Sela (ISR) vs H. Chung (KOR)
Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP – [PR] G. Dimitrov (BUL) / M. Fish (USA) vs V. Pospisil (CAN) / J. Sock (USA)
WTA – [WC] T. Townsend (USA) vs I. Falconi (USA)
WTA – [8] Z. Diyas (KAZ) vs L. Davis (USA)
GRANDSTAND 2 start 4:00 pm
ATP – V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) vs [WC] N. Jarry (CHI)
ATP – [Q] M. Matosevic (AUS) vs R. Bemelmans (BEL)
WTA – S. Aoyama (JPN) / E. Hozumi (JPN) vs E. Bogdan (ROU) / N. Broady (GBR)
WTA – [5] A. Cornet (FRA) vs [Q] A. Mestach (BEL)
COURT 1 start 4:00 pm
WTA – K. Nara (JPN) vs Y. Putintseva (KAZ)
Not Before 5:30 pm
WTA-After Suitable Rest – [4] B. Bencic (SUI) / K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs I. Begu (ROU) / C. Vandeweghe (USA)
ATP – T. Gabashvili (RUS) vs B. Becker (GER)
COURT 2 start 4:00 pm
WTA – M. Niculescu (ROU) vs L. Arruabarrena (ESP)
ATP – [Q] D. King (BAR) vs G. Soeda (JPN)
ATP – R. Berankis (LTU) vs Y. Lu (TPE)
RESULTS – AUGUST 02, 2015
Mens
Qualifying Singles – Second Round
Qualifying – [10] Y. Nishioka (JPN) d [3] I. Dodig (CRO) 76(2) 63
Qualifying – [5] G. Pella (ARG) d [WC] E. Quigley (USA) 63 64
Qualifying – [9] J. Smith (AUS) d [6] A. Gonzalez (COL) 76(3) 61
Qualifying – [7] R. Harrison (USA) d [Alt] M. Zverev (GER) 63 76(3)
Qualifying – M. Matosevic (AUS) d [Alt] T. Niki (JPN) 62 64
Qualifying – [Alt] D. King (BAR) d [Alt] Z. Zhang (CHN) 75 63
Mens
Qualifying Doubles – Second Round
Qualifying – [2] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [1] T. Huey (PHI) / S. Lipsky (USA) 46 63 10-8
Women’s
Qualifying Singles – Second Round
Qualifying – [1] A. Mestach (BEL) d T. Paszek (AUT) 62 61
Qualifying – N. Broady (GBR) d [3] A. Sasnovich (BLR) 63 63
Qualifying – [6] J. Glushko (ISR) d [4] A. Kalinina (UKR) 62 64
Qualifying – S. Marand (USA) d [2] E. Kulichkova (RUS) 76(9) 76(6)
It’s not a grass tournament, but this is a nice touch.
Washington, DC–Top qualifying seed Rajeev Ram withdrew from the Citi Open qualifying tournament today with an unspecified injury shortly before his match was to begin. Alternate Sekou Bangoura came off the bench and played admirably, just failing to advance over Takuto Niki, who prevailed 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(7).
American Wild Card Robby Ginepri was one and done at Citi Open, losing in three to Yoshihito Nishioka.
Ginepri’s compatriots Quigley and Harrison made tomorrow’s qualifying finals.
Newport semifinalist J.P. Smith won with ease and Ivan Dodig survived a dogfight with the animated Liam Broady. It seems everywhere I go, Smith outperforms.
Smith
The Brits had it roughest, with Kyle Edmund, James Ward and Broady knocked out of qualifying today.
American Sanaz Marand advanced while Lauren Embree lost in three sets to Anhelina Kalinina. 14-year-old Malkia Menguene, in her first pro qualifying match, succumbed to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
But absolutely, Andy Murray’s practice was easily the most exciting thing that happened in Washington today. Fans mobbed him and he certainly seemed to like it. Unlike those other guys who keep a poker face, Andy was all smiles all the time. Who can blame the fans, some casual ones, who had never heard of more than half of the players in first round qualifying? Andy was worth the price of admission alone, and some kids even stood outside the venue to the opposite fence of Murray’s serve and pretended to have a speed gun. They barked out their estimates on the speed of each serve and elicited several more smiles from the Muzzer.
Andy Murray, Citi Open
ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, AUGUST 02, 2015
STADIUM COURT start 10:00 am
ATP – Qualifying – [5] G. Pella (ARG) vs [WC] E. Quigley (USA)
ATP – Qualifying – [Alt] M. Zverev (GER) vs [7] R. Harrison (USA)
ATP – Qualifying – [3] I. Dodig (CRO) vs [10] Y. Nishioka (JPN)
WTA – Qualifying – [2] E. Kulichkova (RUS) vs S. Marand (USA)
GRANDSTAND 1 start 10:30 am
ATP – Qualifying – [6] A. Gonzalez (COL) vs [9] J. Smith (AUS)
ATP – Qualifying – [Alt] T. Niki (JPN) vs M. Matosevic (AUS)
WTA – Qualifying – [4] A. Kalinina (UKR) vs [6] J. Glushko (ISR)
ATP – Qualifying – [1] T. Huey (PHI) / S. Lipsky (USA) vs [2] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA)
GRANDSTAND 2 start 10:00 am
ATP – Qualifying – [Alt] Z. Zhang (CHN) vs [Alt] D. King (BAR)
WTA – Qualifying – [1] A. Mestach (BEL) vs T. Paszek (AUT)
WTA – Qualifying – [3] A. Sasnovich (BLR) vs N. Broady (GBR)
RESULTS – AUGUST 01, 2015
Mens
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [Alt] M. Zverev (GER) d [2] [Alt] K. Edmund (GBR) 64 60
Qualifying – [3] I. Dodig (CRO) d L. Broady (GBR) 63 36 76(5)
Qualifying – [Alt] Z. Zhang (CHN) d [4] J. Ward (GBR) 64 57 64
Qualifying – [5] G. Pella (ARG) d [WC] J. Arconada (ARG) 64 64
Qualifying – [6] A. Gonzalez (COL) d [WC] R. Shane (USA) 36 63 62
Qualifying – [7] R. Harrison (USA) d G. Clezar (BRA) 63 67(2) 62
Qualifying – M. Matosevic (AUS) d [8] A. Krajicek (USA) 63 26 76(6)
Qualifying – [9] J. Smith (AUS) d [Alt] M. Pecotic (CRO) 62 64
Qualifying – [10] Y. Nishioka (JPN) d [WC] R. Ginepri (USA) 46 63 63
Qualifying – [Alt] D. King (BAR) d [11] S. Devvarman (IND) 62 57 62
Qualifying – [WC] E. Quigley (USA) d [12] Y. Sugita (JPN) 63 57 64
Qualifying – [Alt] T. Niki (JPN) d [Alt] S. Bangoura (USA) 63 67(4) 76(7)
Mens
Qualifying Doubles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] T. Huey (PHI) / S. Lipsky (USA) d B. Becker (GER) / L. Mayer (ARG) 63 62
Qualifying – [2] A. Krajicek (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d [WC] A. Capitel (USA) / C. Moran (USA) 61 60
Women’s
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] A. Mestach (BEL) d H. Kuwata (JPN) 62 67(7) 61
Qualifying – [2] E. Kulichkova (RUS) d A. Lim (FRA) 63 62
Qualifying – [3] A. Sasnovich (BLR) d [WC] M. Menguene (USA) 61 60
Qualifying – [4] A. Kalinina (UKR) d L. Embree (USA) 61 67(4) 75
Qualifying – T. Paszek (AUT) d [5] E. Hozumi (JPN) 61 61
Qualifying – [6] J. Glushko (ISR) d [WC] N. Kukharchuk (RUS) 63 62
Qualifying – N. Broady (GBR) d [8] S. Foretz (FRA) 75 62
Qualifying – S. Marand (USA) d [Alt] Ar. Rodionova (AUS) 64 36 63
What a long day once again! As tennis was played at Roland Garros for over 12 hours on court from 10 am to 9.30 pm when last match was suspended due to darkness.
I will begin by discussing a match played at the end of the day: Andrea Arnaboldi – Pierre-Hugues Herbert has been (and still is!) a pretty epic match. Arnaboldi started playing great attacking tennis (*5-2 up), I left on 6-4 and it was clear that the Frenchman had stepped up his level. I came back later on 5-5 third set and players kept holding quite easily. Arnaboldi missed a really feasible passing shot when he had the one and only match point. Match will be resumed tomorrow from 15-14 Arnaboldi.
I didn’t watch many other men’s matches, just the end of Norbert Gombos-Yoshihito Nishioka (The Japanese saved 2 mps, the second one with an incredible dropshot, and after that Gombos lost his compsure, and the match in abrupt fashion), and the third set of Radu Albot- Liam Broady with the Moldavian being more consistent and pulling out a win. I also caught the the end of Aleksandr Nedovyesov-Yuki Bhambri, as Bhambri won again, forcing his opponent to play too many risky shots.
Nishioka d. Gombos 2-6 6-2 8-6 Albot d. Broady 6-7 7-6 6-2 Bhambri d. Nedovyesov 6-3 3-6 9-7
Luca Vanni against Thomas Fabbiano was a strange match, until the beginning of second set Fabbiano looked like he would bet the winner, but then some clouds helped Vanni, because without the sun he looked fresher, and started playing more aggressive. Fabbiano was just defending and Vanni had an easy time winning the match from a set down.
I don’t follow WTA that much but I know women’s tennis is famous for being full of drama, and today we had at least two epic matches.
First one was Michelle Larcher De Brito against Clothilde De Bernardi. I admit that I went to this match just because some Portuguese fans asked me on Twitter. To my pleasant surprise it was a great match with both players hitting hard and looking for winners! I didn’t expect De Bernardi being so good and I thought she was done when she went from *2-1 40-15 to 2-4 during third set. The great support fo the public helped the Frenchwoman who refused to give up and managed to go *5-4 up when it started raining. Larcher De Brito was desperate for the De Bernardi comeback and started crying, asking the umpire to stop the match for the rain. The umpire rejected her request and a few seconds later the Portuguese woman was crying again but going off the court.
De Bernardi d. De Brito 4-6 6-2 6-4
Out of focus but I love this pic. That commiserating look could have been mine. Sad to watch girls crying on court pic.twitter.com/SM8rvbGPLE
While I was watching Vera Dushevina against Jelean Ostapenko I heard a rumour of racquet breaks, I turned on the next court and I saw the score Paula Kania-Alla Kudryavsteva 7-5 0-0 15-0
so I understood the Russian had a penalty point. My interest in this match suddenly raised and it was a real drama, with Kudryavtseva complaining loudly with herself and then crying
Kania obviously won and here is a short video that shows how that happened
Kania d. Kudryavtseva 7-5 6-4
Earlier I watched Anett Kontaveit against Kat Stewart and I have to say I was very very impressed by the Estonian Kontaveit. She has stunning power and Stewart was outplayed there. When I was on the stands I heard a guy telling to Kontaveit’s coach “It’s over” on 6-3 3-0, the coach replied “Never say that!”. That was pure jinxing because Stewart fought and came back but Kontaveit managed to win the second set tiebreak.
I watched also first set of the 16 yo Tessah Andrianjafitrimo and the girl has been quite impressive: short and with a pretty weak serve but she moves very well and from baseline is dangerous. Surely one to watch in the future, she beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner in straights.
Quick impressions also in regards to Nastassja Burnett (outpowered Lin Zhu), Elizaveta Kulichkova (far from being impressive against Yi-Fan Xu), and Naomi Broady (great performance on serve against Cagla Buyukakcay).
Burnett d. Zhu 6-2 6-1
Kulichkova d. Xu 6-2 6-2 Broady d. Buyukakcay 6-1 7-6
I watched the second set of Veronica Cepede Royg-CiCi Bellis and that set was surprisingly a bagel. Bellis didn’t play bad tennis at all but on clay she didn’t manage to find a way to hit through the short girl from Paraguay. Cepede Royg played an excellent match, perfect from baseline.
2015 Glasgow Challenger Day 4 Report: Pliskova a winner, Cox and Corrie Reach Quarters Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic
My few days in Glasgow have been eventful. I have witnessed a lot of talent from both the ATP Challenger and ITF women’s tour, and It’s been very exciting and interesting. To start my final day, I watched women’s number two seed, Kristyna Pliskova face Great Britain’s Freya Christie. It was a tight affair in the first set, but the Czech managed to break at 5-5 and serve out the set comfortably. It looked like Pliskova was going to ru away with the match, as she broke early in the second and had opportunities to extend her lead. However Christie kept fighting, and the 17 year old soon found herself having opportunities of her own to take the lead in the second. The number two seed’s big serve and groundstrokes eventually took their toll as just like the first set, Pliskova broke at 5-5. The Czech soon raced to a 40-0 lead and three match points, but they went as quick as they came as came. Christie hadn’t given up the match just yet and fought to try get herself back on level terms. Pliskova was having none of it as she soon wrapped up the match to win 7-5,7-5.
Speaking after the match Pliskova said: “She was playing really well, and I didn’t expect it to be so tough. I also didn’t play as great as yesterday so that’s why it was so close, but I am happy I got through” “My key shot is the serve” she added. “It is my biggest weapon, and I am happy when I hit aces, so it’s most important to my game” When asked about her 2015 goals Pliskova answered: “This year I want to be in the top 100, which isn’t that far, so maybe I can reach top 50 but we’ll see”
Whilst Pliskova was defeating Christie, another Brit took to court six, albeit with reverse fortunes. Naomi Broady faced Russia’s Marta Sirotkina in the women’s singles, with hope of booking a quarter final spot. The match started fairly close, but the Brit found herself a set up after breaking her Russian opponent at 5-4. Broady continued that momentum into the second set, breaking early to establish a 2-0 lead. Sirotkina broke straight back however, showing her opponent she hadn’t given up the fight just yet. Despite the Russian’s best attempts to get back into the match, Broady proved to be too strong. Using her aggressive play, The Brit ran away with the second set 6-1 to secure another straight sets victory.
Next up on court six, it was an all British affair as wildcards Daniel Cox and Daniel Smethurst competed for a quarter final place. The first set lacked any real quality, as breaks were plenty. Cox improved tenfold however, whilst Smethurst struggled to play himself into the match. Cox took the first set 6-4 and didn’t look in any sort of trouble afterwards. An early break was followed quickly by another, and then another as Smethurst got more and more frustrated. The second set passed by quickly as Cox bageled his opponent with relative ease. 6-4, 6-0 was the final result as Cox booked his quarter final place.
Cox advances to the quarters-photo credit Glasgow challenger/Tennis Scotland
The next British hopeful to play on court six was Marcus Willis. The world number 357 was impressive in his round one victory over Matteo Viola, so I was looking forward to seeing if he could back it up against Maxime Authom. It didn’t bode well for the Brit in the early stages as he found himself a break down after the first game. After a comfortable hold by the Belgian, Willis found himself under more pressure on serve, but this time he managed to hold. Authom wouldn’t budge on his serve despite his opponent getting better and better, and as a result he took the first set 6-4. With Willis’ ground game ever improving he started to look more like the player who beat Dan Evans and Viola. The Brit soon found himself a break up in the second, with the match seemingly turning in his favour. Willis served out the set to level the score at 1-1 and have momentum in his favour. The qualifier seemingly had the match in his grasp with an early break, but Authom began getting himself into more of Willis’ service points and quickly broke back. From then on, Authom was in control, and despite Willis’ best attempts to get back in the match, Authom broke and served out the match to win 6-4,3-6,6-3 in a great contest.
I then went to catch the second set of Ruben Bemelmans vs Jonathan Eysseric, which was an interesting encounter. Both men showed their talents, but Bemelmans was just the little bit better at everything, and comfortably won 6-2,6-3.
During the conclusion of that match, number four seed Andrej Martin and Edward Corrie started their clash on court six. From what I gathered from my brief glimpses of the first set, it was a break-fest. Corrie got off to a flyer, getting an early 2-0 lead. However it was soon surrendered as Martin quickly broke back and broke again to go 3-2 up. Corrie broke back during the set, and then broke to win the set 6-4 in what seemed like a strange match. When the Bemelmans/Eysseric match had finished, I rushed over to catch the second set of this interesting encounter. At this point, Corrie had broken early in the second set and looked in control. The Brit led 5-3, but failed to serve the match out, as the game Slovak fought hard to keep himself in the match. It went to a tiebreak in which Martin drew the first mini break. His lead was short-lived as Corrie broke back and took the lead which gave him 2 match points at 6-4 In the breaker. The first was saved by Martin, who held on his own serve to put pressure on the Brit to see it out on his own serve. This time, Corrie didn’t make a mistake. The Brit upset the number four seed 6-4,7-6 to add yet another British name to the Quarter Final line up.
Corrie is another winning Brit-photo credit Glasgow challenger/tennis Scotland
Elsewhere, there were wins in the men’s singles for: Alexandr Nedovyesov, Roberto Marcora, and Niels Detsein. David Guez received a walkover. In the women’s there were wins for Nina Zander, Lesley Kerkhove, Katy Dunne, Ana Bogdan, Ysaline Bonaventure, and Stephanie Foretz.
That concludes my daily reports of Glasgow. It’s been a great few days and I will definitely come back next year if I can.
You can check out the final results in Chris De Waard’s recap this weekend.
2015 Glasgow Challenger Day 3 Report: Bemelmans fends off Pavlasek, Naomi Broady advances Niall Clarke, Tennis Atlantic
Another cold day in Glasgow meant another day of tennis for me to enjoy. Despite the freezing temperature outside, there was a lot of hot action in the Scotstoun leisure centre today.
Firstly I went to court 4 to see our own Conny Perrin take on the number five seed Ysaline Bonaventure. It was a fairly hot tempered affair, which contrasted nicely to the weather. Bonaventure’s lefty serve and flat groundstrokes were enough to see her take the lead in the opening set, but at 5-3 the Belgian failed to serve it out. Perrin tried to use her variety to wrestle control from her opponent, but soon enough the Swiss found herself a set down. Bonaventure continued that momentum in the second set securing an early break whilst her coach cheered her on next to me. Both players were very much amped up during the match. Both players threw their rackets to the floor in frustration, and had words with the umpire about questionable line calls. Bonaventure however managed to keep her cool enough to serve out the match. 6-3,6-4 being the final result to the Belgian who was a bit too powerful for Perrin.
Speaking after the match Perrin told me that it was a ‘difficult’ match and that Bonaventure adapted well to everything she tried. Conny also told me that the courts are playing very slow, so it was difficult to hit through her opponent.
Next up was the number one seed in the mens singles Alexsandr Nedovyesov vs Peter Torebko of Germany. The Kazakh’s possessed the bigger weapons, but he was also wildly inconsistent. The German had his own struggles on serve, with his percentage being 35 for the whole match. There were plenty of breaks in this one, as both players struggled to really get a grip on serve, the most significant example coming at the end of the first set. Nedovyesov served for the set but couldn’t convert, and then in a reverse of fortunes Torebko had his chance to serve for it at 6-5, but the German also failed to close out the set. Therefore we were treated to a tiebreaker, which was largely dominated by the Kazakh, who’s forehand and ability at the net proved too much for his opponent. Tempers flared during the match with both men getting visually frustrated because they couldn’t hold on to serve and build an advantage. In the end Nedovyesov gained the upper-hand and earned the chance to serve for the match. In what became the familiar theme in this match, the top seed struggled closing it out, but In the end he got the job done to take the match 7-6,6-4.
It was back to the women’s for my second viewing of young Brit Isabelle Wallace. The 17 year old however fell easily to fellow qualifier Chloe Paquet 6-1,6-1. A big lesson for the young Brit.
I stuck around to see an all British clash as third seed Naomi Broady faced Tara Moore in the women’s singles. The big serving Broady raced into a 5-1 lead in the opening set, and was looking like she was going to run away with the match. Moore had other plans however, and she battled back to get the score to 5-3 before eventually losing the set. The second went pretty much the same, with Broady’s aggressiveness getting the better of her more defensive opponent. The third seed raced into a 5-2 lead and a chance to serve out the match. What proceeded was by far the longest game of the match as match points and break points came and went like the sun in Britain. Broady remained strong enough to seal the match 6-3,6-2, but it wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests.
Speaking post match Broady said: “Tara is a really good player, and we know each other’s game really well. So when it gets down to the last few points and you know you are close, you start over thinking it a little bit. She also had nothing to lose in the end, so she decided to go for her shots a little more and it made it difficult for me”
Broady made the main draw at Wimbledon in 2014, making it to round two before being defeated by Caroline Wozniacki. She spoke of her experience: “It was amazing. Caroline is the same age as me, and I have known her since juniors, and she’s such a great player, so I was happy we had a reasonably competitive match. I managed to play on court 1 too which was incredible, as I had the home fans behind me. Most players think Wimbledon is the best grand slam, but it’s a bit more special for the British players.”
The final men’s singles match on court six was an interesting match between Adam Pavlasek and Ruben Bemelmans. Pavlasek competed in the Hopman cup for the Czech Republic, and Bemelmans competed in the Australian Open, losing to Ivo Karlovic in the first round. The Czech was under pressure in his first service game, but he pulled through and broke his Belgian opponent in the next game. Pavlasek held serve for the rest of the set to secure it 6-3. You got the sense that Bemelmans was working his way into the match more and more as the first set went along, and in the second set he started to turn the match around in his favour. The Belgian took it 6-3 with some impressive shots helping him level the score. Pavlasek however didn’t let losing the lead get to him, because he soon re-established it in the third set; breaking Bemelmans to love at 2-1. The Czech held out to serve for the match, but Bemelmans kept fighting and soon found himself level on the scoreboard. It was only a few games later when the turnaround was complete, as he took the third set 7-5 to complete the closest encounter I have witnessed this week.
Whilst Pavlasek and Bemelmans were going at it on court 6, an upset was brewing on court eight. Number two seed, Michal Przysiezny was in the top 100 a year ago, but 12 months on, he has found himself losing in the opening round of a challenger event. France’s David Guez came from behind to defeat the Pole 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in what looked like a thrilling encounter.
Other results in the men’s singles included Britain’s Daniel Cox beating Matwe Middelkoop in straight sets, 6-4,6-1. Axel Michon also finds himself in the second round after Yan Marti retired from a set and two breaks down. There were also wins for Julian Reister, Niels Desein and Jonathan Eysseric.
In the women’s, there were victories for top seed Maryna Zanevska and number two seed Kristyna Pliskova.
I’ll be back for my final day in Glasgow, hoping for some more great tennis.
Life On Tour With WTA Pro Conny Perrin: January 2015 Conny Perrin, Tennis Atlantic
January 2015 Update-Switzerland
Tournament Action in Germany and France
My season has finally started again. I went for my first tournament of the year in Stuttgart 10k on hard courts (Germany). I was very excited to be back and compete again after the hard work I put in during the pre-season for 7 weeks with my team: Joachim Weibull (tennis) & Johann Widenmark (fitness).
I lost in the second round there (in Stuttgart) to a girl (Sina Haas) who was just better than me that day & deserved to win, Of course I wasn’t satisfied with this result, but as we all know the first tournament of the year is never easy & can be tricky. I still felt pretty tired there of all the hard work I pulled off during the pre-season, but most important even though I lost against a player who was better than me that day, I gave it all & could learn a lot about myself from this tournament where I was with my tennis coach Joachim Weibull who helped me a lot, too.
In Stuttgart, I could play at least 3 matches (singles and doubles) before leaving home to Switzerland to have a few days off, reload, be as fresh & well prepared as I could for the next tournament, which was in Andrézieux-Bouthéon 25k on hard courts (France).
I arrived in France mentally & physically feeling fresher & rested, which was the plan. I had to play qualies there, which was also ok because the goal was to play a lot of matches & get back to competition better & better. Which I did. I won both of my qualies matches in straight sets & qualified for the Main Draw, where I won first round against 168 WTA & seed number 7 also in straight sets. I also passed the first round of doubles that day (Conny beat Apolline Rassat and Fiona Gervais in singles qualifying, then beat Naomi Broady in the main draw. In doubles, she and her partner Olga Doroshina of Russia beat a pair of doubles teams before losing in the semifinals).
I unfortunately lost second round of singles to #202 WTA Elista Kostova. I wasn’t able to take my chances that day & my opponent was just tougher than me in the important moments so she deserved to win, but again this match could bring me a lot to improve on, especially mentally. In doubles, I continued to win in the second round, but lost in semis later on. I finished the week with 7 matches (singles & doubs), a lot of positives to take with me and most importantly a lot to learn & improve for my next tournament which will be at the Glasgow 25k on indoor hard courts.
Before that, I will go home to Switzerland to get some rest, positive energy, calm down, go as fresh & clear as possible to Glasgow where I play singles & doubles again.
My thoughts on the Australian Open
I was really happy to see Murray make it to the final, first because I think he’s a great athlete & inspiration in general, but also because I think that his collaboration with Mauresmo shows great benefits on & off court. In my opinion, people underestimate too much the power of womens in sport or in general.
I think women have the right personality, a deep understanding for life + sport & who emotionally knows how to proceed + adapt to the person they are working with which isn’t always easy of course, but there are surely more strong women than we think out there who can do that & she’s definitely a great example, so I think we should make it a try more often & be more open about it.
There will always be some critics but that’s how life is. I still think people should understand more the fact of changing coaches whether it’s a man or woman doesn’t matter. The process of a great understanding between a coach, athlete & team takes time & sometimes for some reasons doesn’t work. Otherwise, it would be way easier to be surrounded by the right people, but it’s not always easy to find. There are so many factors who needs to be at the right place for the most perfect environment for the player to feel good & play great tennis in a consistent way.
Otherwise, I was happy to see Rafa Nadal back out there. He’s my biggest inspiration along with Stan Wawrinka in this sport for their hard work & fighting spirit. In the women’s, it was great to see Azarenka back & definitely I always like to follow Serena Williams, one of my greatest inspirations.
Tennis Atlantic 