[Tennis Fool]

Olga drew #4 seed Caroline Garcia in the first round of Osprey qualifying. Hmmmm...

[HowardH]

Hard to tell what will happen. Caroline is very unreliable under match pressure, but Olga isn't exactly a model of tennis toughness herself.

Originally Posted by Faithnareva

This pic is so cute!

[HowardH]

Olga beat 4th seed Caroline Garce 2 and 5. I'm not sure how good a win that is, since Caroline doesn't seem to be able to fight her way out of a paper bag at the moment, but it's a win. Good luck to Olga in the next round.

[Tennis Fool]

A bit surprised she beat Caroline, but I'm just happy Olga is back in the game. Up next Jana Cepelova.

[Mary Chain]

Wow, even though Caroline isn't exactly in a tremendous form, I didn't really expect Olga to beat her... Congrats Olga, keep winning.

[Mary Chain]

QR2: Jana Cepelova (SVK) d. Olga Puchkova (RUS) 61 62

She's so inconstant

[Tennis Fool]

Olga into Charleston qualies. Plays 14th seed Mariana Duque Marino first round.

[Tennis Fool]

Okay, Olga lost but very impressed she put up a fight. Last time she played Mariana, she got bageled. This time she lost 36 63 46.

The stats show this match was a hot, hot mess though. Olga saved 9 of 18 break points Mariana, 7 of 15

Obs, neither of them could hold serve, Mariana 76% first serve, 47% winning Olga, 66% first serve, 49% in. She lost serve at love, I believe to give Mariana the match

I'm assuming the Sunshine Open qualies are next, followed by Uzbekistan.

[Mary Chain]

Same impression here. Not a bad loss. Keep going, Olga!


A few cool pics

Olga looking stunning at Kuala Lumpur players party


With Jimmy Choo, also in Kuala Lumpur

[Tennis Fool]

Yep, Sunshine Open qualies, but she got Annika Beck

[HowardH]

Why is that bad? Is Beck good? I don't really know anything about her, except that she's German I think. I would think Olga could win that.

[Tennis Fool]

Yeah, Annika is good. She's 18, top 200 (which is great these days), and I see her joining the current group of top Germans soon. I saw her play juniors at the US Open last year, and what stood out was her fitness and footwork. Her height will be a bit of detriment, if anything. Also kind of looks like a young Denise Austen.

She's also mentally tough, so Olga can't afford to lose every serve and think the same will happen with Annika.

[Mary Chain]

She lost 1-6 2-6. I believe she held serve only once in the match

[HowardH]

Olga . Well, when you win 31% on serve you're pretty much toast.

[Tennis Fool]

Olga is the #2 seed in Namangan, but if she gets anywhere near the final it will be a miracle. Faces a talented up-and-comer, Katya Yashina, in the opening round.