Monday 14th February 2011
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!
It was a long day today of waiting around after it rained yesterday evening and throughout the night as the courts took all morning to dry out.
Even though we planned to meet for breakfast this morning at 8.30am the girls were down at just before 8am so it gave us time to go through last weeks matches again and make sure they had a clear plan of how they wanted to play today.
Once we got to the courts we realised there wasn’t going to be much play this morning as the courts were still very wet and none of the nets or lines on the courts had been set up. The first change was “not before 11am”, then it was “not before 12pm” and I think some play eventually got going around 1pm. We managed to fight hard for a practise court (as there was only one!) and the girls got in a good match warm up for 30 minutes. All of the girls were looking good and the training over the last three days was starting to show.
Devan and Beth’s matches, which were scheduled off-site, got cancelled around 2pm but Farah managed to get on just after 3.30pm. Farah had the top seed but from last week she knew that it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a great player and was prepared to make her work hard for each point. Farah started well and wasn’t giving her opponent as many cheap points as she did last week but neither of the girls could hold serve. It was only at 3-4 when Farah’s opponent held for the first time and then broke serve to take the set 6-3. There was then a quick rain delay which gave me a chance to chat with Farah and go through important points from the first set, mainly making sure her opponent is earning the points, that Farah is focusing on the first 3 shots of the rally and that she is using her spin on both sides to control the ball more. Farah responded well and despite losing the next 2 games she played a much better and had game points in both games. The rain then came down very hard and the match was suspended at 3-6, 0-2.
Taking cover under an umbrella!
It was a good time for the rain to come down for Farah and we went over the whole match so far to get her set for tomorrow when the fight back will begin!
Schedule for tomorrow:
(1) Mai El Kamash (EGY) (223) vs Farah Abdel-Aziz (GBR) (1750) – 1st on at 11am TO FINISH 6-3, 2-0
(8) Beth Askew (GBR) (872) vs Britt Geukens (BEL) (1750) – 2nd on after 11am
Maryse Chaboteaux (BEL) (1199) vs Devan McCluskey (USA) – 2nd on after 11am
Doubles to follow later in the day unless it rains!
