Wednesday 9th February 2011
Very tough day today, one of the hottest since we’ve been here and it was the day when everyone decided they were going to go to three sets!
It’s always hard to play a friend, let alone one that you’re currently sharing the same hotel room with but Devan and Beth were both very professional with their approach to the match. They warmed up on the same court as each other but Devan hit with Felix and Beth hit with Farah and by 8.30am they were both ready to do battle. I let the girls prepare by themselves, they filled out their pre-match sheets but because they were playing each other I didn’t go through pre-match talk, it was just down to them!
The match started with Beth playing the more solid tennis but the unforced errors were soon creeping in – unforced errors are ok as long as you are hitting the winners to balance them out but neither girl was. Beth took the first set 6-4 and in total their were 51 unforced errors and only 10 winners from both girls. In the second Devan continued the aggressive tennis she showed in the first set but this time she reduced her unforced errors by a third and that made a massive difference. Beth was trying to be aggressive in response but too many errors came and Devan took the set 6-3.
At this point is was anyone’s match, it was really down to the player who could step up, force the other player to miss or hit winners while controlling their emotions so that they didn’t get over excited and over hit. Devan did this the best and now she was hitting two thirds less unforced errors than she did in the first set while Beth’s errors had climbed considerably. In Dev’s first round match she was a little nervous and showed it but today she kept calm, stayed focussed and put in a very professional performance to close out the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
It was tough after the match as one player was very high while the other was very low so I had to two different hats on in the post match talks but the girls put the match behind them very quickly, had lunch together and starting preparing for the doubles.
The girls both started very well against the top seeds, confidence was very high and they raced to a 5-0 lead. Their opponents then fought back hard and showed why they are tops seeds by taking the next 4 games before Beth and Dev went back to basics, played simple doubles and took the set 6-4. Beth and Devan struggled in the second and the momentum was really shifting to Cuk & Ebada. There were numerous breaks of serve and Devan and Beth just couldn’t break and hold resulting in them losing the second set 6-4. So it was all down to the lottery that is the match tie-break – great for the spectators and players, a nightmare for the coaches! Beth and Devan made 3 unforced errors in the first 3 points and at 4-7 it wasn’t looking good, the girls however did what they did in the first set and just went back to basics – lost of 1st serves, every return made, loads of activity and movement at the net and played proper doubles. They took the next 6 points in a row to take the match 6-4, 4-6, 10-7. For some reason the referee has put Cuk & Ebada through on the draw sheet so that could be interesting tomorrow!
Beth and Devan teaming up after their tough singles
Farah was last up for the day and from the start her and her opponent didn’t really gel as a team. They came through their first round as their opponents were quite weak but this time they were up against a couple of tough young eastern Europeans who weren’t going to give them an inch. Farah tried hard to move and cross at the net to put their opponents under pressure but her partner was very static and it caused the team to be a little flat. Team work, energy and activity are what doubles is all about and this was lacking throughout the match. Even though the score doesn’t suggest it, the second was actually better doubles than the first but Farah and Michelle went down 6-3, 6-0.
While Devan stretched out Farah, Felix and Beth were back on court after until almost 7pm for a good basket drilling session to end a long tough day at the office.
Some notable performances today from the other Brits include Alicia Barnett winning her singles match in over 4 hrs, Scott Clayton going down 7-6 in the third and Isaac Stoute winning 7-6 in the third all in very hot, very tough conditions. Credit to Scott, who was really struggling to stand at the end of his singles, he came back on court later in the day to win his doubles quarter final.
Schedule for tomorrow:
Girls singles Quarter-Final:
Hariniony Andriamananarivo (MAD) vs Devan McCluskey (USA) – 1st on at 10am
Girls doubles Semi-Final:
Beth Askew (GBR) & Devan McCluskey (USA) vs Alicia Barnett (GBR) & Brigit Folland (GBR) – 3rd on after 10am
