Francesca beat Monica 2 weeks ago! Some will dismiss the win as being in a pointless exhibition, but it was anything but that at the time. There was a lot of fight in both players then as there was today. Monica admitted that she was nervous playing Francesca again and that she tried extra hard out there because she wanted to try and avenge the earlier defeat. Monica was giving it her all today because she knew how good Francesca was. If that isn't an endorsement by Monica for Francesca, then I don't know what is.
Francesca doesn't seem to have anything that would trouble the top players, but her best shot is her single-handed backhand. She's a counter-puncher who chases everything down and tries to send it back with the force in which it came. She's more in the mould of Hingis or ASV, but sadly, I don't think she'll achieve quite the same level of success as them. She lacks something that Hingis and ASV have against the really top players. She has a definite shot of making it to the lower echelons of the Top 20 however. She is certainly as good as the girls around that area of the rankings.
I knew what to expect from Daniela, and it didn't surprise me at all that she would push Venus to 3. As for beating her, I didn't think it possible until she won that first set. Venus looked injured. She wasn't playing off the ground as much as she usually did. But as soon as she realized that she was in danger, Venus rose to the occasion, as so many top players often do. However, as soon as Daniela lost the second so easily, I knew Venus had the win. She was in full flight by the third set. Still hobbling a little, but giving it a 110% effort. She was injured, but she was still trying. Lots of players play through injury. So Daniela's performance was exceptionally good in the end considering that Venus was able to still give it her all, while not denying that the injury was there.
