Tuesday 8th April 2014
We had a mixed day today as, on one hand the training that Katie put in was of a very high quality, while on the other hand, Katie and Usue were knocked out in the doubles against a very good pair.
As the tournament split the draw Katie only had doubles today so we took advantage of having a free morning to get some good quality training in. The first round of matches were scheduled for 10am this morning so we got to the site at 8.30am and then warmed up to get ready to hit with Mia Horvitt from 9-10am. While Mia was warming up, Katie and I did some reaction ball work and then the girls had a really good hour’s practice which involved some specific drilling and some point play. Mia was happy for me to lead the session so we went through everything we needed to so that Katie’s was fully prepared for her next singles match.
At 10am the matches started so I headed straight to court 8 to watch Katie’s next round opponent play her first round match. On that court Karina Traxler played qualifier Rebekah Anderson and, after a close first four games, Karina took the first set 6-2. I made a lot of notes on both players during that first set and, once it was completed I was confident that Karina would go on to win the match, so Katie and I headed back to the house to get some lunch.
When we returned at 12.15pm we were informed that the girl’s doubles would not be before 2.30pm so we relaxed for a while in the player’s lounge and then went on court with Usue Arconada to get the girls ready for their doubles match. Both Katie and Usue were hitting the ball very well during the 30-40 minute session and Katie looked much more confident in the areas we had worked on this morning.
At 3pm Katie and Usue went on to face Francesca Di Lorenzo and Sofia Kenin and, even though Katie and Usue were the number 1 seeds, we knew that it was going to be a tough 1st round match.
During the first 5 games Katie and Usue played some good doubles and moved well but just struggled to finish first volleys whereas Francesca and Sofia were very consistent at the back of the court and very sharp at the net. Even though each game was close, Katie and Usue found themselves 0-5 down but continued to work hard and, after breaking Sofia and Katie holding serve, they started to build some momentum. Unfortunately Francesca then held serve to take the first set 6-2 but I was confident that our girls would be able to turn the match around in the second set.
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Katie serving during the 1st set
At *1-3 in the second set it wasn’t looking too good but Katie and Usue managed to raise their games and found some really good energy to win the next 3 games in a row and take a 4-3 lead. Usue was broken at *4-4 but we broke Sofia straight back to level the set and then it went with serve until the tie-break. By this stage it the set could have easily gone either way but it was Francesca and Sofia that played the better breaker and went on to take it 7-2.
Despite the loss there were some very positive parts of the match; Katie moved well during the first set and served very well throughout but Francesca and Sofia played a very high quality match throughout.
After the match Katie went into the gym to cool down and stretch out while I completed one of my last 3 training runs before the London Marathon on Sunday. We then headed back to the house for dinner and a relaxing evening to prepare for Katie’s 2nd round single match tomorrow.
Schedule for tomorrow:
Karina Traxler (USA) (896) vs (11) Katie Swan (USA) (112) – not before 11.30am
