Hamilton $25k Canada

john · Top national player

Hamilton $25k Canada

Sheddie · administrator

Anna's early exit in Felixstowe will have given her a bit more time to prepare for this tourney which is on clay. Such a drastic change from the grass to clay, hard to know what to expect. The field is very weak for a challenger though and Anna's shown in the past couple of months she can beat top 300 players. Anna's current ranking is just outside top 400 and that'll put her in the seeds I think as Piedade and Johansson won't be competing.

After this one all the Canadian tourneys will be on medium paced hard, probably the best surface for her game. She's got a 10K next week which she'll be seeded for and then the Vancouver 50K which she'll have to qualify for. I read on the Monte Carlo academy site that her end of year aim is top 250

Draw will be made tonight I guess.

Sarah C really needs some pts soon, she's now down to the 600s

tennisbrain · Club Coach

sarah c still going!!!!!!!!!!!!

some good choices for anna here i think

Sheddie · administrator

Main Draw

(1)Stephanie Dubois (CAN) vs. Qualifier
Julianna Gates (USA) vs. Qualifier
Alexandra Mueller (USA) vs. (WC)Rebecca Marino (CAN)
(5)Michaela Johansson (SWE) vs. Anna Fitzpatrick (GBR)

(4)Ekaterina Shulaeva (CAN) vs. Irina Falconi (USA)
(WC)Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) vs. Qualifier
(WC)Khristina Blajkevitch (CAN) vs. Qualifier
(6)Frederica Piedade (POR) vs. QUalifier

(7)Mary Gambale (USA) vs. Sharon Fichman (CAN)
(WC)Stefi Gjine (CAN) vs. Qualifier
Anna Bartenstein (AUT) vs. Qualifier
(3)Soledad Esperon (ARG) vs. Nina Pantic (CAN)

(8)Ana Veselinovic (SRB) vs. Heidi El Tabakh (CAN)
Paula Zabala (COL) vs. Maya Gaverova (RUS)
Surina De Beer (RSA) vs. Qualifier
(2)Valerie Tetreault (CAN) vs. Sarah Coles (GBR)

Sheddie · administrator

Nasty draws for both...can't see Sarah beating Tetreault who made 25k quarters last week and has been competing in North America all year.

Anna F may have a chance against Johansson who's only about 30 places higher at 370. However, unlike Anna, the Swede has been competing consistently all year at challengers. However, she hasn't done anything special, just a couple of quarters. Depends a lot on how Anna adjusts to the clay I guess

gazzpash · Club Coach

Sorry to report but looks like Anna lost by the just the one break:
Johannson (5) bt Filzpatrick 7-6 6-7 6-3

Sheddie · administrator

A little disappointing, it's a match Anna could have won as she was a break up in the 1st and 3rd sets. However, just a few months ago, she was losing matches like these pretty comfortably so it just shows the strides she's made recently with her game and the new belief that she has

It was a match in which Anna had many opportunities but didnt quite execute when she had the chance, said coach Antony Hampson. When she commits to her shots we all know she is very dangerous, but she also needs to focus on the basics when she is leading.

However, this was nothing compared to what happened to poor Ana Veselinovic, who's a friend of Anna's at the MCTA. She led 5-0 in the 3rd set in her rd1 match and then her opponent took an injury time-out and won the next 7 games to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Ana broke her racket into about a million pieces and sat crying for ages.

Sheddie · administrator

This is just bizarre !

Tetreault (Can)(2) bt Sarah Coles 0-6, 6-1, 6-1

Impressive that Sarah managed to bagel a top 300 player but what happened after that set !