Monday 16th May 2011
It’s been a very positive day today as the hard work that Devan has been putting in for the last two weeks started to come together at just the right time.
We arrived on site this morning at 9am as we wanted to make sure we had enough time to hit in case Devan wanted an extended session but we were told there were no practise courts due to the rain overnight. As soon as we heard that we immediately started our physical warm up so that we’d be ready if a court did open up and just as we finished warming up two players came off the court next to us so we jumped straight on. The court was in fact not being used for matches so we had a good pre match hit and after 35 minutes Devan was feeling ready to go. After getting changed Devan filled out her pre match sheet and we sat down and went through the game plan for the match and set some goals that Devan wanted to achieve.
At just after 11.15am Devan and Manoela Chiacchio went on court; the warm up was pretty solid but as soon as the first set started Devan struggled to find her rhythm and consistency. She was broken in the first game, broke back immediately but that turned out to be the best game of the set as Devan hit 19 unforced errors and only made Chiacchio hit 5 winners to take the first set 6-1. Throughout the set Devan’s attitude had been really good and it was no surprise to me when things started to click in the second set and she reduced her unforced errors, increased her winner count and started to make Chiacchio earn every point that she won (I really think that it was me getting soaked by the water sprinkler on the court behind that made Devan relax and play better!!). Devan’s depth of shot also improved hugely and it made it very difficult for Chiacchio to get on top on her in the rally – Devan took a 4-1 lead and despite being broken at 4-1 and at 5-2 she maintained a very professional and mature attitude throughout and immediately broke back on both occasions and took take the set 6-3. The third set followed the same pattern as the second with Devan’s attitude playing a massive part as many of the games were very long including an 18 point game at 1-0* (which Devan won I might add!!). Every game in the third was tight but Devan managed to win the important points and went on to take the set 6-0. Overall it was a great match; it was great to see Devan react in such a professional way to losing the first set and also find the level that she had been showing in training over the last week.
The match lasted just under 2 and a half hours so after showering and changing we went off site to have some lunch and then came back to relax and get prepared for the doubles 1st round match. This week Devan has teamed up with British junior Danielle Konotoptseva and they faced top seeds Jennifer Brady (who Devan also plays tomorrow in the singles) and Daria Sharapova (who Devan played against in doubles in Daytona Beach). The top seeds started very well racing to a 4-0 lead with some very strong doubles, Devan and Danielle responded by holding twice but went on to lose the set 6-2. The second followed the same lines at the first as Jennifer and Daria were just too strong from the back and from the net winning 5 of the first 6 games to take a 5-1 lead. Their level and concentration then went through the floor as I think they thought they had it in the bag resulting in Devan and Danielle fighting back to make it 5-3. Devan and Danielle then had 3 game points by couldn’t hold serve and lost the match 6-2, 6-3 – tough match but Jennifer and Daria just played better doubles and they’ll be a tough team to beat.
By this time it was almost 6pm and after a long day on site we headed back to the hotel and decided to have an easy dinner at Chipotle across the road. Devan had some issues with the legit food as the steak was a little spicy and it was quite amusing to see her sitting there with ice on her lips after each bite!! When we got back to the hotel we went through her singles match in full and talked a little about what to expect tomorrow and how we’re going to approach the match.
Schedule for tomorrow:
Devan McCluskey (USA) (973) vs (2) Jennifer Brady (USA) (173) – N.B. 12pm
