ye lucy is a strong player and if in form on the day will be a tough opponent. she lost to broady in tight 3rd set 46 last week at sutton i watched it was really close. interesting to see score or if artijeta can catch her on bad day?

Good win for Ince. Can she beat Woolley?

tennisbrain wrote:

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ye lucy is a strong player and if in form on the day will be a tough opponent. she lost to broady in tight 3rd set 46 last week at sutton i watched it was really close. interesting to see score or if artijeta can catch her on bad day?

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I agree, when I watched her in the Sutton 25K she looked like someone who could definately be top 500, she has all the tools. I felt she needed to improve her play and shot selection when she gets on top in the rallies and has a chance to end the point by putting away a short or mid-court ball, she missed far too many of those otherwise she could have easily beaten Dranets who's 550ish.

Good serve and she can hit heavy shots from the back off both sides, maybe needs to work a bit on her volleying too, she comes into the net quite a bit to finish things off.

 

i predict the following will qualify
lucy warburton
natasha hillyer
cala ince
naomi broady
anna hawkins

Steph plays Vanessa Wellauer, who's ranked 751. If she could beat Steiro she can surely beat her.

Jade's match looks winnable, too.

Info from my convo with Nigel Sears yesterday:

Natasha won a hard-fought encounter against 2nd seeded compatriot Liz Thomas, coming through 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the end. Head of women's tennis Nigel Sears said "It's a great result for Natasha, she's improved a lot recently and has won a lot of matches on the British tour."

Kirsty won the all-Sussex "grudge match" against 16 year old Michaela Ince, ouitlasting the teenager 7-6, 6-7, 6-1. Nigel said "Although Kirsty competes a lot on clay in Portugal and Spain, her game is actually more suited to indoor courts, she's a very aggressive player."

16 year old Naomi Broady takes on 17 year old wildcard Annabel Bann (who reached the quarters in Jersey a few weeks ago). Looking ahead to this match, Nigel said "This will be an interesting one to watch, the big hitting of Naomi against the court-craft of Annabel. Naomi has a big serve and a game which is well suited to indoor courts. Annabel is very consistent - she makes a lot less errors than Naomi and she's an excellent matchplayer, the question is whether Naomi has the power to outhit her from the back. However, Naomi is only 16 and one of our best prospects, it'll be a big test for her."

17 year old wildcard Amanda Elliott has been drawn against Olivia Scarfi, another match which could be very close. Nigel said "Amanda has improved a lot recently, she's just returned from a series of tournaments in South America where she made the final in week 1 and won a lot of matches. She's very strong, very good technically, has a good offensive forehand and is not afraid to come to the net quite a bit. She can hit through her backhand and also uses the slice well to attack the net and finish off points. Scarfi had a very good end to 2006 but she's been struggling for form recently. However, she's very determined and a really tough competitor which is what makes this an interesting match. Both players are comfortably indoors, I'd say it's fairly even."

15 year old Stephanie Cornish is up against the unorthodox Swiss player Vanessa Wellauer who's ranked 751. Wellauer is at home in British indoor tournaments and has given Jane O'Donoghue two close matches recently. Nigle said "Stephanie's only 15, playing these futures events is very tough for girls that young. However, it's also a great opportunity for them and I'm looking for them to go out there and not be afraid and show that they're a force like Jade Windley who did really well in Hull and Sutton earlier this year."

Fong loses R1 again