managed to go to the qualies again this year for a couple of days, saw a ton of matches...
1st round, Groenfeld d. Barna, 2 sets: This match, played on one of the big show courts, had the feel of a grudge match between two players from the same country who didn't care too much for each other. ALG is a very big, strong blonde girl, about six feet tall and not thin. Adriana Barna looks a lot like a right-handed version of her sister Anca. The critical game was the third game of the match when there were 7 or 8 deuces on Barna's serve, tough ad points going back and forth. Groenfeld eventually broke and then ran away with the first set 6-0. I didn't watch the second set but ALG won it.
1st round, Tamaela d. Tu, 2 sets: The match was every bit the beating that the 61 62 scoreline suggested. I was quite impressed seeing the Dutch Elise Tamaela for the first time. She is left-handed with a 2 hand backhand, and dark-skinned, looks either half-African or with heritage from the Caribbean. When Tu tried to be aggressive with hard flat shots, she missed; when she wasn't aggressive, Tamaela was able to methodically hit Meilen out of the points with her groundstrokes. Tamaela's serve was also a big factor.
1st round, Rodionova d. Peng, 3 sets: I caught the end of this match which was being watched by a big spirited crowd on the little court all the way in the back of the complex, #18. If you think Anna Kournikova is the hottest Russian blonde bombshell ever to play tennis, all i can say is, you've never seen Anastasia Rodionova. With her beautiful, flawless face like a princess, body to match, and blonde hair tied up into twin bunny ears, she's very dramatic and expressive on court, and would make a great diva if she were ranked higher. Anastasia was leading 5-2 in the third but was tiring badly and clutching at her back between points. There were quite a few Chinese watching, so both players had their vocal supporters. Serving for the match at 5-3, Rodionova easily went up 40-0, but then Peng hit two great winners and Anastasia drilled a forehand over the baseline to give up all three match points. AR got another ad and Peng saved another match point with a clean backhand winner, and Rodionova gave this exasperated look toward the crowd like she was at the end of her rope. Then she stepped up and surprised everybody by hitting a 100+ mph ace down the middle, then won the match on the next point when Peng missed wide with a pretty routine forehand. Was a very deserved victory.
1st round, Dominikovic d. Poutchek, 2 sets: Was a hard-fought match between two veterans who have spent long careers ranked from 100-200. Poutchek missed a golden opportunity to get back in the first set from 5-3 down when she hit an easy forehand into the net that would have tied it at 5-5. In the second set Poutchek got some really bad calls, including an ace she hit on an important deuce point that was overruled by the ump, and after the third or fourth one, she looked up and yelled "JEEEEEZUS!!!" as loud as she could, was pretty funny. Poutchek also seemed to be having pain in her foot that constrained her movement. Dominikovic played very well from the baseline throughout the match and won comfortably 63 in the second set. Biggest problem with Evie's game was her 35 mph second serve.
1st round, Skavronskaia d. Ivanovic, 7-5 in the 3rd: A match between two really hard hitters of the ball. This match looked more like a round of 16 main draw match than a 1st round qualifying. Very high quality stuff, was a shame these players had to meet so early. The tall, baby-faced Serbian brunette Ivanovic was a machine for the first set and a half, painting the lines like Monica Seles back in the day and showing no emotion whatsoever - just scary tennis. But the 6 foot 2 inch Skavronskaia started to generate her own offense with her big forehands and some spectacular one-handed backhand winners down the line. Lioudmila won the second and then really took over at the start of the third, controlling the points and leading *4-2, but then had a bit of a collapse and lost her serve twice in a row. Luckily for Skavronskaia, Ivanovic showed her inexperience by playing a terrible game when she served for the match at 5-4, and then another serving at 5-6, to give the tall Russian the victory.
maybe a few more later...
1st round, Groenfeld d. Barna, 2 sets: This match, played on one of the big show courts, had the feel of a grudge match between two players from the same country who didn't care too much for each other. ALG is a very big, strong blonde girl, about six feet tall and not thin. Adriana Barna looks a lot like a right-handed version of her sister Anca. The critical game was the third game of the match when there were 7 or 8 deuces on Barna's serve, tough ad points going back and forth. Groenfeld eventually broke and then ran away with the first set 6-0. I didn't watch the second set but ALG won it.
1st round, Tamaela d. Tu, 2 sets: The match was every bit the beating that the 61 62 scoreline suggested. I was quite impressed seeing the Dutch Elise Tamaela for the first time. She is left-handed with a 2 hand backhand, and dark-skinned, looks either half-African or with heritage from the Caribbean. When Tu tried to be aggressive with hard flat shots, she missed; when she wasn't aggressive, Tamaela was able to methodically hit Meilen out of the points with her groundstrokes. Tamaela's serve was also a big factor.
1st round, Rodionova d. Peng, 3 sets: I caught the end of this match which was being watched by a big spirited crowd on the little court all the way in the back of the complex, #18. If you think Anna Kournikova is the hottest Russian blonde bombshell ever to play tennis, all i can say is, you've never seen Anastasia Rodionova. With her beautiful, flawless face like a princess, body to match, and blonde hair tied up into twin bunny ears, she's very dramatic and expressive on court, and would make a great diva if she were ranked higher. Anastasia was leading 5-2 in the third but was tiring badly and clutching at her back between points. There were quite a few Chinese watching, so both players had their vocal supporters. Serving for the match at 5-3, Rodionova easily went up 40-0, but then Peng hit two great winners and Anastasia drilled a forehand over the baseline to give up all three match points. AR got another ad and Peng saved another match point with a clean backhand winner, and Rodionova gave this exasperated look toward the crowd like she was at the end of her rope. Then she stepped up and surprised everybody by hitting a 100+ mph ace down the middle, then won the match on the next point when Peng missed wide with a pretty routine forehand. Was a very deserved victory.
1st round, Dominikovic d. Poutchek, 2 sets: Was a hard-fought match between two veterans who have spent long careers ranked from 100-200. Poutchek missed a golden opportunity to get back in the first set from 5-3 down when she hit an easy forehand into the net that would have tied it at 5-5. In the second set Poutchek got some really bad calls, including an ace she hit on an important deuce point that was overruled by the ump, and after the third or fourth one, she looked up and yelled "JEEEEEZUS!!!" as loud as she could, was pretty funny. Poutchek also seemed to be having pain in her foot that constrained her movement. Dominikovic played very well from the baseline throughout the match and won comfortably 63 in the second set. Biggest problem with Evie's game was her 35 mph second serve.
1st round, Skavronskaia d. Ivanovic, 7-5 in the 3rd: A match between two really hard hitters of the ball. This match looked more like a round of 16 main draw match than a 1st round qualifying. Very high quality stuff, was a shame these players had to meet so early. The tall, baby-faced Serbian brunette Ivanovic was a machine for the first set and a half, painting the lines like Monica Seles back in the day and showing no emotion whatsoever - just scary tennis. But the 6 foot 2 inch Skavronskaia started to generate her own offense with her big forehands and some spectacular one-handed backhand winners down the line. Lioudmila won the second and then really took over at the start of the third, controlling the points and leading *4-2, but then had a bit of a collapse and lost her serve twice in a row. Luckily for Skavronskaia, Ivanovic showed her inexperience by playing a terrible game when she served for the match at 5-4, and then another serving at 5-6, to give the tall Russian the victory.
maybe a few more later...