Btw, on GBTG people are wondering what the situation with David Felgate is. He has stopped working with Xavier Malisse and now is Naomi's full-time coach

Cavaday def Brandi 76(4) 63 Shes certainly means business!

Speaking afterwards Naomi told britishtennis.net "The match today was really tough especially mentally as Brandi is a very difficult player to play against. She hits very flat off both sides and gets great angles off almost any shot. She's incredibly consistent considering the margins she allows herself and she also moves really well."

"I knew I had to be really patient, wait for the right ball and try and keep the shape on my forehand. I was actually happy that she got so many balls back as it gave me a chance to really test out my movement which is something I have been working hard on, and it was definitely a big influence on the outcome of the match."

"Point after point we were having long rallies, moving each other around and at the beginning I often broke down first. She took advantage of this and took a 5-2 lead with a double break. I knew I was playing the right way, I just had to step it up a level. I refused to miss and ended up winning 6 and 3. I am gaining confidence and match practise which is really important to me at the moment as I changed my game style significantly a couple of weeks ago... so for it to be paying off already against good players is a good sign."

"I don't think I can compare this win with the Spears match. I think that Spears is a better player, but while quite a few players have similar game styles there is only one Brandi ! She is much more unpredictable and hard to get your head around. The courts here are great, medium paced with a medium bounce so there's nothing particularly challenging."

Where is she ranked now? Around 325?

The Panda Bear wrote:

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Things got a whole lot easier for her as she will be playing Romana Tedjakusuma [286] of Indonesia instead of second seed Yulia Fedossova, who is on the verge of cracking the top 100.

How Tedjakusuma managed to beat Fedossova by 2 and 0 is beyond my understanding. She has played a mix of all sorts of tournaments in the recent past, but hasn't won two rounds in the main draw since she won a 25K in November (beat O'Brien by 1 and 3 on her way). I think that Naomi will take this.

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Tedjakusuma has actually been in the top 100, but that was when she was 17, i.e. 13 years ago!

Far from a surprise, but the scoreline is really flattering.

The Panda Bear wrote:

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Seems like a great person and what's more - she has an excellent knowledge of grammar. I'm becoming a bigger fan of her with every day that passes.

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Arks man, you are a legend