Wednesday 28th November 2012
Today was a very positive day for the team as they took 3 wins out of 3 which included a win for Holly’s first ITF points and a win for Mason which adds some points to his ranking.
The team were all up for breakfast this morning at 8am and leaving the hotel by 8.50am to go to the club. We originally only had Mason’s doubles scheduled but we were told that the consolation could start today so we’d have to wait and keeping checking with the referee to see if they could fit the matches in.
With that in mind we decided to head over to the Mvita Club straight away so that we could get a good session in there before the other players arrived. After another disrupted journey with a Tuk Tuk driver that had no idea where he was going I ended up having to direct the way and somehow we managed to get there in one piece!! We all went through our own physical warm up for 25 minutes and then went through some tough drills on court which really tested who out of the team would work the hardest in the intense heat. When asked at the end of the session who worked the hardest 2 of them put their hands up but then to my surprise one of them backed down and actually backed the other person!! Following the drills we had a brief break and then it was back on the court to sharpen up everyone’s net game to prepare themselves for their doubles matches. We went through some volley drills and then competed against each other – I just about managed to take Mason out while Mia beat Holly after a retirement! We finished the session with some 2 ball sprints for the losers but I stepped up to help Mason get his time under 30 seconds which almost finished me off for the day!!
Once we got back to the club Mia and I walked back to the hotel to shower, change and get some lunch while Mason and Holly opted for lunch onsite. We then spent the next couple of hours trying to work out when the doubles would be on and in that time Holly was told that she’d also have doubles today as the referee had forgotten to put it on the schedule – thanks!!
Holly and Hannah Brett from the WIN Tennis Academy went on for their doubles at 3.45pm to play Vicky Geurinckx (BEL) and Shanna Krimatschow (GER). Holly had played the German girl in qualifying so knew her game well and we knew the Belgium girl had qualified for the main draw so it was going to be a close game. Holly knew this was a chance for her to get her first ITF points on the board but the occasion didn’t faze her at all and her and Hannah raced to a 3-0 lead at the start of the 1st set. Holly was dominating the net well and Hannah was playing very solid from the back of the court but a poor service game at *3-0 let their opponents back into the match. At *4-3 up Hannah played a good game to hold serve and then they broke Vicky’s serve to take the first set 6-3 – out of the 6 games they won 5 of them were to Sudden Death Deuce.
The second set started poorly from our girls and the good movement at the net which dominated the first set wasn’t happening as much. At *1-3 Holly held serve and it looked like they were going to level the set in the next game but this time the Sudden Death Deuce went against them and they found themselves *2-4 down. At this point Hannah served a good game and Holly started to take more control over the net which gave the girls the boost they needed to hold and then break to level the match at *4-4. Unfortunately Holly was broken in the next game and it looked like it could be heading to a Match Tie-Break but at 4-5* Holly and Hannah dug deep and managed to break straight back. In that game Holly hit a very late backhand straight into the side of Hannah face – you’d normally expect an apology for almost taking out your partner but instead Holly said “If you miss high volleys that’s what you get!!!”. It was all taken in the right spirits and from that moment onwards the girls never looked back as they won the next 2 games to take the match 6-3, 7-5. Holly was delighted with the win and the illusive first ranking points.
.jpg "Holly and Hannah on their way to victory today")
Holly and Hannah on their way to victory today
Mason and Sacha had been on the court behind Holly and Hannah’s playing their 1st round doubles match but they were in complete control and when I turned up they were already 6-3 up. They dominated the 2nd set and took a solid 6-3, 6-2 win to move into the Quarter-finals.
Immediately following that match Mia went on for her first round consolation match so it was back over to the court Holly had been on to see Mia wrap up a very easy 4-0, 4-0 win against Melissa Brown from Kenya.
It was great to have all three players get a win on the board today but it does now mean that Holly and Hannah will face Mia and Nikita in the Quarter-finals tomorrow – at least the team is guaranteed 1 semi-finalist this week and hopefully Mason and Sacha will make it 2.
For dinner tonight we decided to go to the other Official Hotel where the WIN Academy are staying. The restaurant at the Royal Court Hotel is on the 6th floor and to our delight the food is even better than the views – I had an amazing spinach and ricotta ravioli which was a very welcomed change and we didn’t have to wait an hour for it either!
Schedule for tomorrow:
(4) Amadi Kagoma (BDI) & Joshua Luck (RSA) OR Carlos Fernandez (MEX) & Keshav Vellodi (USA) vs (5) Sacha Modica (GBR) & Mason Recci (GBR) – 4th match after 9am
Hannah Brett (GBR) & Holly Hutchinson (GBR) vs (2) Nikita Dawda (KEN) & Mia Smith (GBR) – 4th match after 9am
Consolation:
Mason Recci (GBR) (1019) vs Innocent Tidmane (BOT) (1735) – To be arranged
Stephanie Mbaya (KEN) (UNR) vs Holly Hutchinson (GBR) – To be arranged
