[Dexter]

So I just got back home from Warsaw. It was fun as it always is but I have to say last year I had much better time there. Anyway here's my report hope you'll enjoy it.

Day1: (Tuesday)

My first tennis experience on day 1 was bumping onto Anna-Lena Groenefeld, when she was coming back from court #4 when she practised I guess before her singles match. I wished her good luck in German. She seems to be a nice girl, but she still does look huge. I wanted to go down on the outside courts to check out who's practising. I spotted from the hill Czakwetadze, Dementiewa, Krajicek and Henin. But the gates were closed and while I was looking down at the players practising somebody from security told me it's forbidden to do so. :tape: Wtf? I don't even look like a terrorist...

Anyway I decided to head onto the Center Court but it was still like 20 minutes before the match was supposed to get underway. It was freezing... I dunno not warmer than 7C for sure. All of a sudden it started snowing. :tape: It was not a blizzard, just a couple of snowflakes. But can you imagine to see snow in May? :spit: HILARIOUS.

DEMENTIEWA vs TU

It was one of the worst sets of the tournament I've seen. I think there were like 2 service games held a piece - all remaining ones were breaks. Tu started with a DF... Lena didn't made us wait for one on her behalf for that long either. :tape: She was sooo off. Really nothing to describe, there was barely a point worth of former Top5 player and GS' finalist. Tu did well in the TB to clinch the 1st set. As it was a torture to watch I left the CC with friends to watch some matches on the outside courts.

GROENEFELD vs KANEPI

When I arrived it was already *3-2 for ALG in the 2nd set. I thought Kaia would put moe effort into this match. Both weren't playing that well. Basically ALG was trying to hit it hard or when it didn't work she hit it even harder. It paid off that day. At the end Kaia made me hope it can turn around as she broke back for 4 all but unfortunately got broken back at love (4 UEs in a row ). Then it looked like ALG will have again troubles with service game and Kaia actually had a double BP to get it back to 5 all but she wasted both of them (if my memory serves me right ALG served an ace on of the BPs) and ALG won 64 in the 2nd. The only higlight for me at this match was Carlos Rodriguez who was sitting like 2 or 3 raws behind us. I always thought he was much taller and uhmm... bigger. :lol: far from it.... Actually I wanted to come over to hm and ask for an autograph but he left before the match finished. :sad: :awww:

That's it for now I'll finish my Day 1 report a bit later.

 

[Dexter]

K.BONDARENKO vs PASZEK

Again it started snowing even though the sun was shining. The looks of Tamira's, Katya's and umpire's faces were PRICELESS. :spit: Anyway Katya in the 1st set was just too good for Tamira. PERIOD. Her shots are not even close to be as impressive as Tamira's but Katya was just too solid, didn't miss too many shots. She has a very decent BH. Tamira was a bit off even though we tried to motivate her as much as we could after every point she won. She clinched her first after every good point (even though there were not oo many of them early in the match) directing at her coaches and hitting partner (I assumed so) and us (as we were sitting in front of them). Ok, let it be us. :lol: After Katya won the 1st set 6-1, Tamira went for a long bathroom break and Katya requested a coach... Aljona that is. They were both always present at each other's matches. I spoke to Aljona before the match... she is quite nice :angel: Tamira was down in the 2nd set... 4-2 I believe but thanks to her determination and fighting spirit (and our support of course ) she somehow managed to win this 2nd set in the TB, but she had to call for a trainer at the start of the 3rd set and it was clear that she was struggling. I think she had some back or neck problems. :sad: After a couple of minutes it was already 5-0 for Katya. Tamira managed to save her pride by holding (at love I believe) for once in this final set, but it was too little too late. Katya finished off the match with ease. Tamira acknowledged our support and gave us thumbs up. Such a sweetheart. :hearts:

WIESNINA vs U.RADWAŃSKA

During those 2 matches Dementiewa managed SOMEHOW to win over Meilen - even thoigh Tu was 2 points away from the win - and Ulka won 1st set 6-2. When I got there she was 1-4* down in the 2nd set. Lena won the next game and then Ula's remarkable comback has begun. Basically all her shots landed in. She hit a couple of unbelievable lobs close to the baseline that any player would have been proud of. It wasn't even that Lena was choking, Ula was playing out of her mind. I really started to wonder wtf is she still ranked in the 4th hundred in the ranks... At 4-5* Lena had 7 SPs and it was arguably the best, most exciting game of the tournament. The audience was very involved (maybe too much ). Ulka finally broke back and despite being 0-30 down in her next service game she made it 6-5. First 3 pts of the next game were all maginificent winners... One lob and a great passing DTL to give her a triple MP. But Lena kept fighting and Ula wasn't aggressive enough on any of them. She said herself in the interview that she thought Lena would committ an UE and give the match away. But it wasn't meant to be. Ula was unlucky on the last MP - her shot hit the net and barely went back on her side of the court. In the TB Ula missed a lot and she didn't look at all like she's going to win it. I didn't watch first games of the 3rd set but when I came back Ula was *3-0 up and Lena was receiving a medical treatment... Not sure what the problem was. It looked like a tactical timeout. Ula requested her dad to come down to her. From the on she won I think 4 pts in the last 6 service games... :help: It was such a pathetic choke - all Lena had to do was put the ball over the net and Ula would miss, she couldn't do anything. There were tears, screams... all sad to watch. :sad: She really deserved to win and I was soo looking forward to watch her play against Janković. :sad: But credit has to be given to Lena she fought so hard to win... Still I'm gutted for Ula. :sad:

A.RADWAŃSKA vs PIRONKOWA

Quite boring match comparing to the previous one. Aga played at her usual so so level to go up 5-2 then Cwetana's shots started to get in (she missed a lot of FHs especially early in the match). She managed to break Aga quite easily for *4-5 (some killer returns) and levelled the set at 5 all. But Aga regrouped in time to win the next 2 games to take a set. Except for the very first game of the 2nd set which took a good part of 20 minutes with lots of deuces, BPs and GPs, the whole 2nd set was boring and one-sided. Cwetana called for a trainer at some stag of the 2nd set, but she didn't look like something was bothering her that much. I left at 4-1 to watch the end of Ula/ALG match but when I reached Court#1 the match was almost over.

That's it for Tuesday. Definitely the coldest day of the tournament. :lol:

 

[CooCooCachoo]

Thanks :hatoff: :dance:

 

[Nadie]

thank you :wavey: great report :hatoff:

 

[Dexter]

Day2: Wednesday

SANTANGELO vs PIETROWA

The start of the day was pretty cold again but not as bad as on Tuesday - there was no snow. First match on Center Court was a very exciting battle between Mara and Nadia. Both played in pink outfits. Mara started the match with a good hold after a long game with a couple of deuces. On the contrary Nadia's first service game took just a minute or two... actually she served extremely well in the 1st set - except the 2nd service game when she got broken and it was enough for Mara to seal the victory in this set. Most of Mara's service games where long full of good points. Mara's supporting camp was pretty vocal with their 'Forza, Brava, Grande & Dai' after every point she won. Nadia didn't like it at all and she even complained to the umpire after the very first game (but I'm not sure if that was the real problem). Nadia also made Mara wait when she was about to serve once because a bird was chirping. :tape: Fair enough, the bird was annoying but it made me laugh. :lol: As I said most of Mara's service games were long but actually she didn't have to save any BPs until the final game of the 1st set when she was serving for the set and she successfully did it at the end. She was very motivated and I had no doubt that she's going to win in 2! However she quickly found herself down *0-3 in the 2nd set. She did well to level the set and then didn't back off and didn't let Nadia to win a game anymore. Nadia fought very well in her last service game, saving at least 3 MPs... It was a very good game full of good rallies. I think Mara converted her 4th MP. She was so happy after she won! :bounce: I have to say I become a fan of her after the tournament she is really fun to watch! After the post-match interview I congratulated her and asked for an autograph but she didn't sign for anybody. :awww: But I got a signature from her after one of her singles match. :devil:

V.WILLIAMS vs KRAJICEK

I have to say that I can't write too much about this much as I got a terrible migraine right at the start of it and I spent most of the match having head in my hands. Venus won comfortably in 2, but Misa put some good effort into it, even though I hoped she could win a set or even cause an upset. I noticed Misa talks to herself in Czech a lot (in Dutch also ).

 

[Dexter]

A.BONDARIENKO vs A.RADWAŃSKA

The match started off with a bagel set for Agnieszka. At the beginning the scoreboard on the stadium had the score wrong and the audience was very irritated with this fact. :lol: Aga played very smart 1st set, basically she was flawless... all she did wrong was one DF and maybe one missed FH or two. :shrug: She made also a couple of good dropshots that Aljona failed to reach. But to be honest it was more of Aljona missing everything there was to miss, she hasn't had even a BP or GP in the 1st set. As I wrote before Katya and Aljona were present on all of each other's matches... but after 3 first games Katya left as if she was embarrassed with her sister's display :tape: 2nd set started with Aljona breaking Aga's serve. Aga responded with a rebreak and from then on they both were holding serves until 4 all when Aga found herself 0-40. She managed to get it to deuce but Aljona broke and served out the 2nd set to win it 6-4. Aga didn't do anything wrong in this set. Aljona's shots started to find the lines, she started to reach Aga's dropshots and return Aga's still weak 2nd serves. Agnieszka started 3rd set with *2-0 lead but she started to miss a lot and her service was simply awful. She also complained about the surface... At one point after an odd bounce (OMG, in like every match there was at least one bizarre bounce that made players either furious or laughing) she screamed 'Jak można grać na takim badziewiu?' (Can be translated as: How is it possible to play on such a piece of crap?'). Literally everybody in the stadium burst out laughing. :haha: But it didn't help Aga at all she lost 5 straight games in a row and she was so pissed that she somehow managed to break Aljona when she was serving for the match at *5-2. In the next game there was a point when Aljona's shot landed close to the baseline, hard to judge if it was in or out. Aga complained and circled the mark but umpire disagreed and ordered to replay the point. Aga got pissed and when Aljona's return on the next point landed a good metre long she circled the mark and again everyone started laughing. Actually she was 40-0 up in that game but Aljona won 5 pts in a row to clinch the victory. Again credit has to be given to the opponent, but it's a very disappointing result for Aga... She should have won this in 2. Oh well...

That's it from singles matches I watched on Wednesday (I only managed to see a game or two between K.Bondarienko and Kuzniecowa). After that I went over to watch Jarka Gajdosova because I have never seen her play and I was following her for quite some time. I've also heard from my friends that she's very nice. :angel: She was teamed up with Vladka Uhlirova and they played against Garbin & Krajicek. They lost but even despite defeat they came over to the opposite side of the court to thank us for our support and Jarka gave her towel to my friend. I got signatures from both of them. :angel: Vladka was definitely the worse player of the duo, she missed a lot - especially on the crucial points, but she is just such a good partner. She would always smile and motivate Jarka to keep fighting. Way to go! :yeah:

After that I also watched the 2nd set of the match between Aga & Czaky vs Bepa D & Tati P. I swear I haven't drunk that day but all set long I was sure Aga & Anna won the 1st set and I haven't found out that I was wrong until they were 2-5 down. I thought 'Ok, 3rd set TB here we go' but my friend quickly let me know that the match was almost over. :tape: In the last game there were again a couple of bad bounces but Aga just laughed it out. :yeah: On the penultimate point Aga's shot landed on the baseline but Bepa thought it was out and so linesjudge shouted, but he quickly corrected himself or was it umpire who corrected him? :scratch: Anyway there was a long discussion what to do... Umpire wanted to replay the point but Aga & Anna complained because Bepa didn't touch this shot and it should have been given as a clear winner. The umpire looked really clueless... Anna was angry, rolled her eyes a lot and said 'You're such a professional' to the umpire with that bitchy smile. I got to like her. :devil: Someone from the crowd shouted 'Replay the match' when the umpire decided finally to replay the point. :haha: A couple of minutes later it was over as my 2nd day at J&S Cup was.

That's it for today. I'll finish my reports from Thursday & Friday tomorrow. :wavey:

 

[LUXXXAS]

nice report :yeah::spit:

 

[tobi]

Thanx for the report

 

[gumoll]

I have to be there next year for sure :spit:

:haha:

 

[Dexter]

Day3: (Thursday)

JANKOVIĆ vs WIESNINA

First match on the CC when a big fave of mine was involved, so I was really excited to watch Jelena. They both wore warm outfits because it was chilly at the start... The match started pretty lame with Jelena easily winning 3 games in a row and I was pretty pissed still that Ula didn't win on Tuesday (she would have played Jelena). IMHO it would have been more exciting match, certainly that was my impression at first because Lena was pretty awful and Jelena didn't have much to do. That being said Lena started getting it together as the match progressed and in the 2nd set it turned into a good contest. I was looking if there was Snezana (Jelena's mum) in the stadium but I couldn't find her - even though I was convinced for a good part of hour it's one lady in the hospitality boxes but when I got closer I knew I was wrong.

After the 1st set I paid a brief visit to Court#1 to watch Kata & Mara up against Laura & Jill. I don't remember exactly but Laura & Jill won certainly less than 10 pts in the 2nd set. The scoreline 63 60 is no mistake. Kata & Mara served better, returned better and volleyed better than their opponents. IMHO Laura could drop a few kilos, whilst Jill looks fit as a fiddle. American team never really got into the match... as if they were even allowed. 2nd set has finished before 3 games of the 2nd between Jelena and Lena. Atfer the match Mara & Kata stayed a bit on the court and talked with fans about their start in Berlin and gave autographs for everyone who wanted (including me :angel: ).

When I got back on the CC Lena was leading 3-0* Jelenka quickly regrouped and levelled the set. She was serving for the match at *5-4... but guess what? she failed to finish off the match properly (who would have thought? :shrug: ). Choke-queen... :hearts: But she won the next 2 games to win 7-5 at the end. Lena gave her good run for her money at the end though. After the match Jelena signed for a lot of people (I got a signature on a picture ) when she was heading for a post-match interview.

HENIN vs GROENEFELD

It was the moment I waited for sooo long. Such a great feeling to be able to watch your fave after so many years of following her on TV and so on. I couldn't believe she's there for real playing :lol: (just like Ana last year). No surprise here - Justine won as easy as the scoreline shows (61 62). She was just head and shoulders above ALG's level. In the 1st set ALG was pretty awful she missed a couple of easy shots, Justine tortured her with her defensive skills and the plan that worked against Kaia (hit hard or even harder) didn't work against Justine. I have to say that I didn't think Justine hit THAT hard. She served extremely well (even though ALG had a couple of BPs in the 2nd set) and BH as well as her FH were definitely ON that day! ALG missed one easy smash late in the 2nd set and she told herself in German 'Why are you playing so bad when you can play better?' :awww: I felt for her and actually I got to like her more after the tournament. I think she will get it together finally. :hug: All in all I was thrilled to watch Justine winning a match on my very eyes. Allez! :rocker2:

 

[Kampi]

Hi Dex:wavey:
Thank you so far for your great reports from Warsaw. Lucky you.

 

[Dexter]

After Justine's victory I decided to watch another doubles match. On court#1 - #2 seeded Russians Lichowcewa & Wiesnina were up against Polish WC Brózda & Kosińska. TBH I expected a whitewash - especially after the first 6 pts of the match which all went to Russians. At *1-0 30-0 they made 4 UEs in a row and Poles won a game. Then Olga served 4 DFs in one game (one of them didn't even reach the net :tape: ) and the break-fest continued as Russians failed to hold as well. To my astonishment it were Poles who managed to hold first in this set and somehow they won this set 6-3. :shrug: Especially Lena Lichowcewa let the duo down... she's really awful comparing to last year when her volleys were very solid. Now she misses most of them and some really easy ones. As for Poles, Kosińska looks very unfit but her groundstrokes were very powerful and she served not so bad for her standards. Olga also played better than when I saw her playing last year at J&S Cup or in Gliwice. Way to go! In the 2nd set Russian team raced to a *4-0 lead but Poles didn't let this set go. They fought back hard and actually they had a point to level the set at 4 games all, but when they failed to convert it, they gave this 2nd set away. In the TB up until 4 all they were going toe to toe but then due to string of errors off Polish rackets Russian managed to win 10-5. I was happy to see Lenas winning, but Karolina & Olga made a good account of themselves. :yeah:

V.WILLIAMS vs DEMENTIEWA

When I was watching doubles Venus & Lena started their match. As I thought it would be the case Venus won the 1st easily and as the scoreline shows it was pretty one-sided. 2nd set was a great battle. I got to watch it from *4-3 to Venus. Since then nobody managed to hold. :tape: Venus had a MP at *6-5 but Lena save it. The audience supported the Russian as everybody wanted another set of tennis. The hitting was ferocious especially on the BH wing. They were both grunting so loud, those last games got the audience really excited. At some point Lena hit a DF (what a news, I know!) and she screamed in Russian 'Damn think, think please before you do something like that, please!' :lol: She was in her fighting mood and it got me hoping for a third set. But Venus prevailed in the TB. :sad: Too bad they had to meet so early.

WAKULENKO vs CLIJSTERS

It was the last match scheduled and I was not sure if I should stay or not, but I'm glad I did (at least for one set). Actually most people left the stadium after Venus-Lena. I have to say I didn't really pay attention to how they both were playing. I was pretty tired after the day and I spent most of this set chatting with friend in the one of the last raws. I know Kim was a break up *4-2, but failed to consolidate and from then on Julia had no problems with her service games. She really can serve well - there were lots of aces on her behalf. Julia also looked very fit, strong legs but also quite pale. Anyway she got it into the TB and even though Kim had an early lead Julia won it 7-3 (thanx to Kim's gifts - countless errors). I was sure that Kim will prevail at the end just like Swietłana the day before despite dropping the 1st set and I didn't feel like staying there for an hour or two (it was already past 6pm) so I left the stadium. I'm still pissed I didn't stay. Period.

 

[Pszczelny]

dzieki za raport :wavey:

szczegolnie z tego czego nie widziałem :worship:

 

[Kim's_fan_4ever]

Dex where you the one who screamed 'allez juju' so loudly? There was one guy who did it and I'm wondering whether it was you :lol:

 

[Dexter]

Dex where you the one who screamed 'allez juju' so loudly? There was one guy who did it and I'm wondering whether it was you :lol:

Actually I allez'ed a couple of times after good pts but not so loud. The guy who was screaming 'Allez Ju' often was sitting close to Carlos Rodriguez, it's someone from Justine camp.

 

[Kim's_fan_4ever]

Oh I thought it was you :lol: From the very beginning I kept telling to myself: that must be Dexter :lol:

 

[Meteor Shower]

Thanks for the awsome report. :worship:

I want to see Justine live too. :crying2:

 

[Ben.]

thanks for the report dexter :clap2:

 

[Dexter]

That's not the end. I'll write the final report from QF's day (Friday) in the evening.

 

[MagicMilan]

Thx Maciek . Great report, I'm glad you had a nice time in Warsaw. Cheers :wavey: