StMalo 2011 clay 100K+H women

[Kalessin]

Yesterday I went to this challenger tournament because it's playing in my home town

The site is mostly in French but some news and interviews are available in English too:

09/21 news

1st round results:

Ekaterina IVANOVA (RUS) def Virginie RAZZANO (FRA, 7) : 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Severine BELTRAME (FRA) def Margalita CHAKHNASHVILI (GEO) : 6-1, 6-2
Lara ARRUABARRENA-VECINO (ESP) def Olga SAVCHUK (UKR) : 6-4, 6-4
Lucie HRADECKA (CZE, 1) def. Sandra ZAHLAVOVA (CZE) : 6-1, 6-1
Johanna LARSSON (SWE, 2) def Nathalie PIQUION (FRA) : 6-3, 6-4
Audrey BERGOT (FRA) def Alize LIM (FRA) : 6-1, 6-3
Sharon FICHMAN (CAN) def Patricia MAYR-ACHLEITNER (AUT) : 6-3, 3-0 (withdrawal)
Mathilde JOHANSSON (FRA, 3) def Magda LINETTE (POL) : 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
Silvia SOLER-ESPINOSA (ESP, 8) def. Yvonne MEUSBURGER (AUT) : 7-6, 6-2
Alexandra CADANTU (ROU) def Catalina CASTANO (COL) : 6-0, 6-2
Laura POUS-TIO (ESP, 4) def. Nina BRATCHIKOVA (RUS) : 6-4, 7-5
Kiki BERTENS (NED) def Mariana DUQUE-MARINO (COL) : 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU, 5) def. Estrella CABEZA-CANDELA (ESP) : 6-7, 6-0, 6-1
Stefanie VOEGELE (SUI) def. Bibiane SCHOOFS (NED) : 6-4, 6-7, 6-3
Eva FERNANDEZ-BRUGUES (ESP) def. Elitsa KOSTOVA (BUL) : 6-1, 6-2
Scarlett WERNER (GER) def Nina ZANDER (GER) : 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

I stayed there almost all day long, walking around between the 3 courts.
Sorry no detailed reports on matches but a few tidbits:
- French cutie Alize Lim lose in 1st round and was very disappointed but I guess it's the curse of being poster-girl of this tournament with her face on display everywhere in town ;D
- One hour after her win, I saw Cirstea running alone around the track behind the stadium and doing stretching exercices. Fitness problems or taking any opportunity of training?
- Alize Cornet should have been there but she is injured
- Convincing win for Hradecka. 2nd seed Larsson looked less impressive to me.
- Patricia Mayr looked in pain with her belly, at first I thought maybe she abused of local sea food ;D ... but it was an abdominal strain who had her to quit.

Maybe I will go again tomorrow...

[janie]

Welcome back, Kalessin!
Poor Duque.

Did you see any of Virginie's match?

[Kalessin]

No, I didn't as it happened on monday, the day before I went.

Over the weekend she was the honor guest (along with Alize Lim) to a French premier league soccer match and rolled the ball to start the game (see this report in French)

[Kalessin]

Today I went again and watched the last 3 matches of 2nd round.

Mathilde vs. Scarlett:
I just arrived at 4-4 and I saw Mathilde loosing first set 4-6.
After that, she played a little better and Scarlett (a qualifier) got a bit tired.
When everything clicks for Mathilde, her game is nice to watch with precise flat shots
but most of the time I had to watch boring long lasting games with Advantage/Deuce repeated ad nauseam.
Consistency is her main problem like most of WTA (and maybe men too except the top four).

Laura vs. Alexandra:
This match had more rhythm with long lasting rallies mostly won by Laura.
In second set, Alexandra had a better start but still managed to loose against a slightly
more powerful opponent.

Sorana vs. Eva:
Sorana had a clear 5-1 lead in 1st set but some lack of concentration or impatience
let Eva back in the game to 5-4. Sorana barely managed to clinch 1st set 6-4.
Same story in 2nd set, easily leading 5-1 then 5-3 before concluding match on serve.

Also today (but not on central court) Kiki won against Sharon.
Kiki is a big blond baby, she had her left thigh strapped and I saw her
after her match putting a bag of ice on her leg.

2nd round full results:
Silvia SOLER-ESPINOSA (ESP) def. Audrey BERGOT (FRA) : 6-3, 6-1
Stefanie VOEGELE (SUI) def. Ekaterina IVANOVA (RUS) : 6-1, 6-4
Johanna LARSSON (SUE, 2) def. Severine BELTRAME (FRA) : 6-2, 6-2
Lucie HRADECKA (RTC, 1) def. Lara ARRUABARRENA-VECINO (ESP) : 6-2, 6-2
Mathilde JOHANSSON (FRA, 3) def. Scarlett WERNER (GER) : 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
Kiki BERTENS (NED) def. Sharon FICHMAN (CAN) : 6-4, 6-4
Laura POUS-TIO (ESP, 4) def. Alexandra CADANTU (ROU) : 6-2, 6-4
Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU, 5) def. Eva FERNANDEZ-BRUGUES (ESP) : 6-4, 6-3

Quarterfinals (Friday):
Silvia SOLER-ESPINOSA (ESP, 8) vs. Johanna LARSON (SWE, 2)
Kiki BERTENS (NED) vs. Mathilde JOHANSSON (FRA, 3)
Lucie HRADECKA (CZE, 1) vs. Stefanie VOEGELE (SUI)
Laura POUS-TIO (ESP, 4) vs. Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU, 5)

[janie]

Did Alexandra make a lot of noise out there, of the screeching, grunting type?

I wonder if SSE will continue her astounding run.

By the way I think it's fantastic that you live in or near St Malo, which to me is one of those unreal, magic sort of places that I would love to visit but never will.

[Kalessin]

Sept 22, 2011 15:39:04 GMT -5 janie said:

Did Alexandra make a lot of noise out there, of the screeching, grunting type?

A little but it wasn't really annoying.

I wonder if SSE will continue her astounding run.

Maybe. I was not impressed with her next opponent, Johanna Larsson.

By the way I think it's fantastic that you live in or near St Malo, which to me is one of those unreal, magic sort of places that I would love to visit but never will.

Yeah, it's a nice place, often windy though. Players seem to enjoy it too, they stay in probably the best hotel in town, featuring sea water spa:
www.thalassotherapy.com

[janie]

Wow!

[Kalessin]

I could not go today (nor tomorrow),

Semifinals:
SSE vs Johansson
Cirstea vs Voegele

[Kalessin]

Cirstea vs Voegele:

Both girls wearing the exact same outfit (pink skirt and flashy orange top).
No break until 5-5 in first set for Voegele who went to lead 7-5 5-3 before choking big time.
Final score: 5-7 7-5 6-1 for Cirstea

Soler-Espinosa vs Johansson:

SSE lead 6-3 5-2 then half-choke but she managed to win 2nd set tie-break.
Final score: 6-3 7-6 for SSE

[janie]

Sept 24, 2011 16:03:42 GMT -5 Kalessin said:

Cirstea vs Voegele:

Both girls wearing the exact same outfit (pink skirt and flashy orange top).
No break until 5-5 in first set for Voegele who went to lead 7-5 5-3 before choking big time.
Final score: 5-7 7-5 6-1 for Cirstea

Soler-Espinosa vs Johansson:

SSE lead 6-3 5-2 then half-choke but she managed to win 2nd set tie-break.
Final score: 6-3 7-6 for SSE

Ha, Voegele's choke score is so for classic women's tennis.

[Kalessin]

Impressive win for Sorana who overpowered Silvia, 6-2 6-2
That was her best match of the week and she made countless forehand winners against maybe a little bit fatigued Silvia.
I think Sorana has the potential to come back into top 25 of WTA. At 21, she is still young.

Ex-players Nathalie Dechy and Sarah Pitkowski were in the audience as they are "marraine" (godmother?) of the tournament, working for the main sponsor

[janie]

Excellent news! Sorana winning is a good ending for the tournament.
A rare Pitkowski sighting!

Thanks for the reports all week, Kalessin. We won't ruin things by bringing up Gasquet, for whom we all had such big hopes a few years ago!

[Grarliner]

I hadn't even noticed Dechy was retired!