Good luck in 2010 Ula!
Urszula won so easily. Poor Nicole couldn't do anything. Radwanska hit winner after winner off both sides. Her dropshots were perfect, as were her volleys. She has no weaknesses. But, we'll see what happens against a tougher opponent. I believe her mother is there as well.
Well, the tournament sucks. It keeps on raining and 6/8 matches were moved indoors, even some that were half way completed (is that allowed?). The indoor facility is awful for the fans as we are behind a glass window which makes it impossible for us to hear anything. It's really hard to follow matches that way, so I only watched 5 matches and left. I think it's also unfair that some girls get to play outdoors and some indoors. Players like Perry and Marino have a huge advantage playing indoors, while others like Lee and Hwang suck at playing in such a fast court. I also couldn't stand hearing the people around me confuse Gullickson with Frankova, or people calling Fujiwara an upcoming junior player from Japan (just because she is so small). Then there were two guys arguing over whether Brodsky was born in Ukraine or Czech Republic (hey, at least one of them was right!!) Anyway, here is the recap on the matches that I did see:
I've become a fan of Urszula. She is just a complete player. Like her sister, she knows exactly what to do at the right time. Both her forehand and backhand are really nice and consistent. Her mother's friend clapped really loudly after every point that Radwanska won, that Story became really, really mad at them and yelled at them for being so rude. I'd agree though. In one point, Story missed the return-of-serve really badly and Radwanska's friend clapped and Story said "yeah, what a great rally that was." But, it was a good match. Urszula was just too good for Story.
I sadly didn't see any of the other matches. But I'm shocked that Marino beat Kulikova. Urszula better watch out.
The sun should come out tomorrow.
If she wins this tournament, she will be #133. Good sign that she won the game when the score was 4:5. It means that her mental preparation is much better than it was in the past.well done
closer and closer to top 140
Cool day -- lots of good matches. The men finally finished their second round (indoors). Dudi Sela invited my friends and I to dinner tomorrow if he loses and on Sunday if he makes the finals. Anyway, back to the women:
Major drama in the Brengle/Brodsky match. Gail Brodsky is for sure the more aggressive player of the two, smacking winners all the time, while Madison is more content to run everything down and hit her balls crosscourt. The main difference between the two was Madison's ability to get one more ball back and her mental strength. Gail was up 2:0 and 3:0 in sets two and three as well. At 4:4 in the third set, Brengle was serving down 15:40 when she hit a backhand down the line which was clearly out. The lines judge called it out but the chair umpire called it good. Gail went nuts and started yelling at the umpire. She was right though, the ball was clearly out. Instead of re-grouping, Gail lost the next three points to lose the game, and then she lost the next game easily too. Madison did not look happy after winning either. She knew that ball was out. Gail of course did not shake hands with the umpire and left the court in tears. Gail's father than started yelling at the umpire and the tournament referee. My friends and I tried to console Gail but you could tell she wanted to be alone.
Julie of course won really easily. Ye-Ra had a chance outdoors but no chance indoors.
Carly played another solid match: big serving, big winners, great net play. Shenay's lack of match toughness showed as she made stupid mistakes during important points. She looked happy to be back though.
Urszula did not play as well as yesterday. She was very tentative today. Marino is the type of player though that gives you no rhythm. It's rare to get a rally that lasts more than three strokes. Radwanska was smart in hitting to Marino's backhand and she was more consistent and waiting for Rebecca's errors. Urszula got a bad call down 62 45 15:30 to go down two set points, but unlike Gail, she remained calm and won that game and the next two games really easily.
The sunshine is out tomorrow and the semis should be really good.
unbelievable :spit:Urszula got a bad call down 62 45 15:30 to go down two set points, but she remained calm and won that game and the next two games really easily.
Now there's an improvement.Urszula got a bad call down 62 45 15:30 to go down two set points, but she remained calm and won that game and the next two games really easily.