Belgium vs. Australia: impressions from the first day

I went to Belgium vs. Australia and I had a great afternoon!
It all started with the opening ceremony and I happened to sit at 2 meters of the stairs that the players used to enter the court. First the Australian team arrived and they got loud cheering from both the Belgian supporters and the +/- 10 Aussies who were there. Then the Belgian team came in and I got shivers down my spine because I never saw Kim, Justine, Els and Laurence from that close. WOW! :eek:
Kim and Justine look soooo young and Kim was fooling around with Justine when they were on their way to their place on the court.
We had to raise for the national anthems.

Then it was time for Justine vs. Nicole Pratt. Nicole is a very solid player, very determined but though she was leading at some point in the first set, and took the second, I never felt that she would win this match. Justine, well what can I say? It's not the first time I've seen her live but WHAT A PLAYER! Her tennis is a mix of dance and martial arts. The way she throws her body and that racket in the ball... almost every time she hit the ball, you felt a sigh of admiration go through the audience. WONDERFUL. Pratt played decent and good tennis, but Justine adds a spark of magic to the game.
So Justine-Nicole: 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

After +/- 25 minutes, Alicia Molik and Kim hit the court. Alicia is VERY pretty, tall, slim, nice tan, really a cute girl. Unfortunately, she was playing someone who's in another league so this was really a rather onesided story. Kim was LETHAL, aggressive, went for her shots, served well, returned great. And once again, I don't understand why people doubt her ability on clay. I've seen Amanda Coetzer play in Antwerp in 2000 and she's a damn good player on clay, but if I compare her to Kim, Kim has just more in her bag: variety, aggression,...
So Kim-Alicia: 6-0, 6-2.

Belgium vs. Australia is 2-0 for the moment, the result we hoped for and somehow expected but the girls still had to do it. But it seems that both Kim and Justine are ready for the clay tournaments that are coming up.

Thanx for the report, Hagar!
it's very well written ;)
I wish I had been there too!

Thanks for the report! Good to hear you had such a great time :)

I think people who doubt Kim on clay just haven't seen her play too much on the dirt.

Thanx for the excellent report! Glad to hear you had a great time! :)

Im not going to bother listening to people who don't think Kim is a clay court player- Us fans know that she can do some damage on the red stuff! Go Kim! :)

Thanks for the report, Hildegard! That's an interesting description of Justine's play. Dance and Martial Arts. "The Dance of the Deadly Backhands." :D

Nice report, Hagar. Glad you had fun. :wavey:

Thanks, Brian. I'm pretty pleased with the description myself:D .
Normally I produce these expressions at a speed of two a year. I guess this was the one for the first half of 2002. :D

Thanks. Sounds like you had fun! :)
Are you going tomorrow?

Thanks for the report!
They indeed played very well!
:D

hagar you must have been sitting practically next to us!
I was near the stairs,front row,i'm blond and i was wearing dark jeans and a pink blouse,i was the one staring at kim all the time at the baseline lol....
nice report!thanx