Experimentee
Jan 14th, 2005, 11:41 AM
Kraijcek def Osterloh
I only saw the last part of this match and Michaela was impressive. She played like she did at Hopman Cup, and hit awesome winners off her backhand and forehand, and won points at the net too. She looked a class above Osterloh and I think she will qualify and can win some rounds depending on the draw. She says 'vamos' when she gets pumped up, and said a big 'Vamos!' when she won, which was strange since she isnt Spanish.
Liu def Henke
Nan Nan was just too good today. She is on fire this tournament. She hit very consistently and accurately into the corners, dictating every point until Henke could no longer return the ball. If she keeps this up she will qualify too, and be in the top 100 in no time.
Rao def Sun
Sunitha played very well, she moved the ball around and was consistent. Sun on the other hand was nowhere near the form she showed yesterday when i saw her. Most of her big forehands missed the court and her serve was off too. She hit many double faults, two when she was serving in the last game, one of them was on match point.
Ashley def Uberoi
Shikha was not as good as yesterday, and made many unforced errors, a lot of them were easy. Ashley was solid, and had leads in both sets, but Shikha came back to level the score, but Ashley pulled away again to win each set.
Haynes def Jackson
Haynes was just too good for Jackson today. Both hit the ball hard and were aggressive, but Haynes was more consistent than Jackson who made too many errors. Haynes was especially lethal off her forehand and won a lot of points from her big serves too. She looked great in a bright blue dress and matching bandanna.
Nakamura def Bychkova
Aiko started slow, and made a few unforced errors to give Bychkova a 2-0 lead. After that she found her range, and pretty much blew Bychkova off the court, hitting winner after winner, setting up points well, and won the next 5 games in a row. She has very nice clean groundies and likes to be aggressive and dictate the point. Bychkova was not aggressive at all, but a solid baseliner. She just hit the ball back and never went for anything. She was happy to stay in moonball rallies, while Aiko was always trying to hit the moonballs away. If Aiko was consistent she would be a great player, but hit a lot of unforced errors as well as winners. Bychkova had no winners in the first set i think, and not many unforced errors either, but she was not the one making the play in this match.
Nemeckova def Bammer
I only looked at this on the change of ends during the Nakamura match. Bammer was the more aggressive player by far, and was dictating every point, but Nemeckova had great defense and would keep making her play balls and Bammer would miss at the end. Lenka was also great at turning defense into attack and would often turn the point around and hit a winner at the end. She might cause some problems to Aiko tomorrow as I dont think Aiko would match up well with someone like her, and Aiko plays a bit like Bammer as well :unsure:
I saw a lot of mens matches too so if you'd like to know about any of them just ask.
A lot of top players were here practising as well. It was surprising to see Barbara Schett hard at work practising, I thought I'd heard that she retired. It was great to see Mary Pierce looking fit and happy, since I had some doubt about whether she would turn up. Mauresmo was hitting and she looked fine as well.
I only saw the last part of this match and Michaela was impressive. She played like she did at Hopman Cup, and hit awesome winners off her backhand and forehand, and won points at the net too. She looked a class above Osterloh and I think she will qualify and can win some rounds depending on the draw. She says 'vamos' when she gets pumped up, and said a big 'Vamos!' when she won, which was strange since she isnt Spanish.
Liu def Henke
Nan Nan was just too good today. She is on fire this tournament. She hit very consistently and accurately into the corners, dictating every point until Henke could no longer return the ball. If she keeps this up she will qualify too, and be in the top 100 in no time.
Rao def Sun
Sunitha played very well, she moved the ball around and was consistent. Sun on the other hand was nowhere near the form she showed yesterday when i saw her. Most of her big forehands missed the court and her serve was off too. She hit many double faults, two when she was serving in the last game, one of them was on match point.
Ashley def Uberoi
Shikha was not as good as yesterday, and made many unforced errors, a lot of them were easy. Ashley was solid, and had leads in both sets, but Shikha came back to level the score, but Ashley pulled away again to win each set.
Haynes def Jackson
Haynes was just too good for Jackson today. Both hit the ball hard and were aggressive, but Haynes was more consistent than Jackson who made too many errors. Haynes was especially lethal off her forehand and won a lot of points from her big serves too. She looked great in a bright blue dress and matching bandanna.
Nakamura def Bychkova
Aiko started slow, and made a few unforced errors to give Bychkova a 2-0 lead. After that she found her range, and pretty much blew Bychkova off the court, hitting winner after winner, setting up points well, and won the next 5 games in a row. She has very nice clean groundies and likes to be aggressive and dictate the point. Bychkova was not aggressive at all, but a solid baseliner. She just hit the ball back and never went for anything. She was happy to stay in moonball rallies, while Aiko was always trying to hit the moonballs away. If Aiko was consistent she would be a great player, but hit a lot of unforced errors as well as winners. Bychkova had no winners in the first set i think, and not many unforced errors either, but she was not the one making the play in this match.
Nemeckova def Bammer
I only looked at this on the change of ends during the Nakamura match. Bammer was the more aggressive player by far, and was dictating every point, but Nemeckova had great defense and would keep making her play balls and Bammer would miss at the end. Lenka was also great at turning defense into attack and would often turn the point around and hit a winner at the end. She might cause some problems to Aiko tomorrow as I dont think Aiko would match up well with someone like her, and Aiko plays a bit like Bammer as well :unsure:
I saw a lot of mens matches too so if you'd like to know about any of them just ask.
A lot of top players were here practising as well. It was surprising to see Barbara Schett hard at work practising, I thought I'd heard that she retired. It was great to see Mary Pierce looking fit and happy, since I had some doubt about whether she would turn up. Mauresmo was hitting and she looked fine as well.