Post by lexpretend on Jun 28, 2007 4:56:48 GMT -5
Queued for a ground pass yesterday with Sarah (SJW from The World), we spent most of the queue bitching about Hanturexia.
We drifted to the practice courts first but decided a brief glimpse of Benesova wasn't worth dealing with the mass of people there...first players sighted wandering around were Dulko (gorgeous in person), Krajicek (smaller than I was expecting), Groenefeld (even fatter than I was expecting, but she was smiling and laughing at least!), Cilic (didn't recognise him) and Yan (giggling with a gaggle of friends).
We got front row seats for Ivanovic first on the basis that all the matches we wanted to see were on at the same time, but Ivanovic would at least take care of business quickly. She dominated the first set, obv...but if Czink had taken advantage of the few points she was actually controlling, it wouldn't have been as bad a score.
We left after the first set to point and laugh at Tati, who was very up and down, as you'd expect. In some games her serve would click and half the points would be aces/service winners, in others she'd manage to lose from 40-15 up with DFs and errors - it was a bit of a breakfest. I liked Hsieh's game - her low flat BH scored her many points - and actually ended up rooting for her, even though I'd gone to support Tati, because she really shouldn't be stuck in Challengers still, and winning this would have done wonders for her. She was 5-3 up in the third but lost her first serve when serving for it, and Tati got angry enough to actually hit shots hard enough for winners. Tati looked a bit thinner than the last time I saw her but her body shape is still a bit weird in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Hsieh is really skinny and has an odd walk, she doesn't appear to bend her legs at the hip at all, just the knees. There was a rain break mid-match which we took advantage of to start on our wine.
Then over the alleyway to Paszek and BarbOra. Paszek is amazing, really fired up and immense off both wings - could stand to lose a little puppy fat though. BarbOra was actually playing OK, a nice all-court game, her tantrums were fun though - after one missed volley she sank to her knees and - I believe she was addressing the net here - let out this stream of plaintive Czech which lasted for about two minutes, complete with drama queen head shaking and arm waving. Future career as Shakespearian tragic heroine beckons. Paszek meanwhile will probably lay a beatdown on Tati in the next round - and she seems like the kind of girl who LOVES to give beatdowns.
After that Sarah went to be anxious about Serena on the big screen while I headed over to A-RAD!!!! I love A-Rad. The first point I saw was a beautiful drop shot from way behind the baseline, Pironkova got to it and A-Rad responded with a VOLLEYED BACKHAND SLICE LOB. The next point she won with a BH slice which I swear didn't even bounce. At the changeover Pironkova started crying.
I think we went to Safarova v Daniilidou next - the very first point after we sat down (start of the second set), Safarova fell awkwardly - she didn't cry out when she fell but she didn't get up and was clearly in a lot of pain - she was holding her knee and crying so the ump and Daniilidou both went over to her. After treatment she seemed to be walking OK, and her strokes were still just as good but you could tell she was a bit hesitant about running, which swiftly dug her a 0-4 hole - after that though she broke at love, held at love, broke after being 0-40 down on ED's serve, and we thought she'd come back to take the set, but threw in a careless service game at 3-4. We left after ED won the set. It was a very well played match but we were pretty certain Safarova would take it - apart from the 4-game injury blip everything was working for her, Daniilidou was hitting nice shots but both her serve and her movement seem to be even worse than when she was in the top 20.
We did intend to see men's tennis but missed Wussquet due to him actually winning quickly, and Tursunov never got on court - at around 4.30 it started to rain lightly (and play wasn't resumed), we spent the rest of the time getting pissed in the Pimm's tent
Also sad I missed Fishin' Hat and Little Ayumi, but their match was on the other side of the grounds from the Tati/Tamira/A-Rad/Ana matches. I must say I am DEVASTATED that I missed the Muller/Smashnova classic though 
LOL at Sequera beating Stosur.
We drifted to the practice courts first but decided a brief glimpse of Benesova wasn't worth dealing with the mass of people there...first players sighted wandering around were Dulko (gorgeous in person), Krajicek (smaller than I was expecting), Groenefeld (even fatter than I was expecting, but she was smiling and laughing at least!), Cilic (didn't recognise him) and Yan (giggling with a gaggle of friends).
We got front row seats for Ivanovic first on the basis that all the matches we wanted to see were on at the same time, but Ivanovic would at least take care of business quickly. She dominated the first set, obv...but if Czink had taken advantage of the few points she was actually controlling, it wouldn't have been as bad a score.
We left after the first set to point and laugh at Tati, who was very up and down, as you'd expect. In some games her serve would click and half the points would be aces/service winners, in others she'd manage to lose from 40-15 up with DFs and errors - it was a bit of a breakfest. I liked Hsieh's game - her low flat BH scored her many points - and actually ended up rooting for her, even though I'd gone to support Tati, because she really shouldn't be stuck in Challengers still, and winning this would have done wonders for her. She was 5-3 up in the third but lost her first serve when serving for it, and Tati got angry enough to actually hit shots hard enough for winners. Tati looked a bit thinner than the last time I saw her but her body shape is still a bit weird in a way I can't quite put my finger on. Hsieh is really skinny and has an odd walk, she doesn't appear to bend her legs at the hip at all, just the knees. There was a rain break mid-match which we took advantage of to start on our wine.
Then over the alleyway to Paszek and BarbOra. Paszek is amazing, really fired up and immense off both wings - could stand to lose a little puppy fat though. BarbOra was actually playing OK, a nice all-court game, her tantrums were fun though - after one missed volley she sank to her knees and - I believe she was addressing the net here - let out this stream of plaintive Czech which lasted for about two minutes, complete with drama queen head shaking and arm waving. Future career as Shakespearian tragic heroine beckons. Paszek meanwhile will probably lay a beatdown on Tati in the next round - and she seems like the kind of girl who LOVES to give beatdowns.
After that Sarah went to be anxious about Serena on the big screen while I headed over to A-RAD!!!! I love A-Rad. The first point I saw was a beautiful drop shot from way behind the baseline, Pironkova got to it and A-Rad responded with a VOLLEYED BACKHAND SLICE LOB. The next point she won with a BH slice which I swear didn't even bounce. At the changeover Pironkova started crying.
I think we went to Safarova v Daniilidou next - the very first point after we sat down (start of the second set), Safarova fell awkwardly - she didn't cry out when she fell but she didn't get up and was clearly in a lot of pain - she was holding her knee and crying so the ump and Daniilidou both went over to her. After treatment she seemed to be walking OK, and her strokes were still just as good but you could tell she was a bit hesitant about running, which swiftly dug her a 0-4 hole - after that though she broke at love, held at love, broke after being 0-40 down on ED's serve, and we thought she'd come back to take the set, but threw in a careless service game at 3-4. We left after ED won the set. It was a very well played match but we were pretty certain Safarova would take it - apart from the 4-game injury blip everything was working for her, Daniilidou was hitting nice shots but both her serve and her movement seem to be even worse than when she was in the top 20.
We did intend to see men's tennis but missed Wussquet due to him actually winning quickly, and Tursunov never got on court - at around 4.30 it started to rain lightly (and play wasn't resumed), we spent the rest of the time getting pissed in the Pimm's tent
Also sad I missed Fishin' Hat and Little Ayumi, but their match was on the other side of the grounds from the Tati/Tamira/A-Rad/Ana matches. I must say I am DEVASTATED that I missed the Muller/Smashnova classic though 
LOL at Sequera beating Stosur.
Wow! Okay, I'm now a convert to A-Rad's team. 
No second serve? Well, she can work on that, can't she? Anyway, thanks for the fun report. 
No second serve? Well, she can work on that, can't she? Anyway, thanks for the fun report.