Qualies Report from Tuesday 15th June
It was my first time seeing a lot of these players, so I apologise if any of my observations are wrong/unfair
- Man I found a new favourite today, Vitalia Diatchenko. Interesting to see someone play double handed off both sides, it's not common these days. Anyway, she was pretty lucky to win, Broady choked when she had a big lead in the first set tie break, and was also a break up in the 2nd. Anyway, she has the most hilarious grunt...actually, it can't really be called a grunt, it sounds more like a little puppy barking. She squeals when she misses. She whacks balls against fences. She smashes her racquet. She swears. And this is when she's winning, I'd be intrigued to know what she's like when she's losing. I found her so entertaining I took some videos, I'll post them shortly. Broady is very un-British, she looks like she should be Russian, her figure is too good to be a Brit. Although her tennis fits her into the category nicely
- Viktoriya Kutuzova managed to achieve the previously unthinkable and develop an atmosphere at Roehampton
I'm not sure how it started, but there was a big crowd there and almost everyone wanted her to lose, it was almost an Azarenka @ RG type situation. Wasn't the best quality of tennis, but she did well to battle through in the end. She's got a lovely figure, I'd like to see more of her
(hopefully she wins in R2 and I'll see her in R3).
- Bah, I like Arantxa Rus as well, but today's match was painful. First set was near flawless, she served well and Hrdinova couldn't cope with her heavy forehand. And then she just lost the plot. Her groundstrokes got worse as the match went on, and by the end she couldn't hit a ball in the court. She was pretty gutted afterwards, sat on the grass outside the court for about 45 mins, probably wondering where it all went wrong. It's not like Hrdinova started playing incredibly or anything, she basically just kept the ball in the court. Arantxa was rubbing her stomach towards the end, perhaps she wasn't feeling well, I don't know. She didn't seem in the mood for questions afterwards either
- Wanted to watch Dentoni vs. Hercog but I stayed for most of Rus. Dentoni played well in the first set from what I saw, but when Hercog raised her game she was the better player. Dentoni took a toilet break after the 2nd set, but the toilets are about 3 miles away. Hercog did well to keep her concentration, she looks good to qualify I think.
- Watching Tatiana Poutchek is like stepping into a room with someone who's self-harming. She's absolutely nuts
I don't know who has seen when Youzhny cracked his head open with a racquet, but she did that about 8 times, as well as thumping her thighs, knees and legs. It's a miracle her body isn't covered in bruises. Headcase.
- Speaking of headcases, Rodionova seems to become more of a bitch every time I see her. Today she decided to use every trick in the book (intimidating line judges, slowing play down, evil stares etc. ) and Kucova eventually cracked. I think she actually called for a tournament official at one stage. Kucova had led 4-1 in the first, but Rodionova got under her skin and she lost her way, I felt kind of sorry for her.
- Soler Espinosa did her best to choke away the match today, served for it and then kept missing forehands on match points in the tie break. Finally made one on her 4th (I think) match point. Cue tears from Zahlavova.
- Watched a bit of Cavaday's destruction of Fujiwara. Jesus, she was playing well. Absolutely crunching the forehand. Probably one of the best performances of the day, I was impressed.
- Poor Camille, it almost seems like she's playing a 1970's style game against the big hitters of today
I think she'd struggle to hit a winner against a snail these days. I like her effort though.
- Didn't stay for all of it, but no surprise to see Kookie won easily. Arvidsson seems very out of shape, I know she's always been a little bit on the (how do I say this in a PC way
) chunky side, but she was struggling for air after any long rally.
adeegee's Wimbly reports and pics (can anyone recommend me a good junior?)
today, a lot of them aren't good quality. I'll post a few anyway, and the rest of the tourney should hopefully be better. Sorry!
the faith is there, you can make it!
JUSTINE HENIN
IS BACK! 
)
Both such beautiful girls.
