Week 34 - US Open Qualifying (Women)

Happycynic · Pro player

RE: Week 34 - US Open Qualifying (Women)

Happycynic · Pro player

2*-4
3-4*
3-5*
3*-6 on the rack now
4*-6
GSM Coin

I so thought Bally had her in that final set, but what a fight back

Miserable. I thought she was there.

Mel 1*-3
Mel 2-3*

-- Edited by Happycynic at 23:49, 2008-08-22

Happycynic · Pro player

back to the in laws. We are discussing towel colours. Super

tharris · Intermediate Club Player

That's a terrible loss for Bally. All our girls ever do is choke matches away when they should win easily. There's no excuse for this loss. It looks as if Mel's not doing any better. Same old story.

Happycynic · Pro player

Zhang serving for the match at 2-5* against Mel

DavidC · Tennis legend

It was certainly not a terrible loss. From what I heard of the commentary it was a good standard match and at the end Bally was battling against her back again as well as her opponent.

Mel 2-5*

If Zhang is the sort of steady player who doesn't give you much pace like many Chinese players then that would explain why she has taken over against Mel - just as she did last year, and just as she did against Bally in January. Neither Bally nor Mel has reliable technique.

DavidC · Tennis legend

Zhang duly wins 7-6(2) 6-2

john · Top national player

What a disaster

Tutu · Club Coach

Lol Don't call it a disaster.

Last year we had Anne and Naomi in the FQR

This year we have two different players. They're almost there, they just need to stop choking these type of matches away. Anne has been doing that all her like but she finally got it right and look at where she is now?

A good tournament for both girls. Although these matches were winnable, I hope this can give them the confidence to be where Anne is right now by next year.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

They both had matches that they should have won, and failed to win them, and as GB girls have done so often, they seem to have thrown the match away.

Bally had a *4-1 lead in the 3rd set? It's a horrible loss from that position, as with the power of her serve, she shouldn't be getting broken twice in a set on the US Open courts (other than Washington and Cincinatti, the fastest outdoor courts), especially against someone as limited as Coin.

South was frustrated by Zheng? So if she isn't hitting winners, surely she must have a plan B in case that doesn't work (but like a lot of the girls, I don't know whether she does)

They were matches that they should have won, but didn't, which is becoming something that we say too often about British players.

john · Top national player

Any chances of a lucky loser spot?

PockyTastic · Futures level

john wrote:

Any chances of a lucky loser spot?

Yep, but sadly it went to Duque Marino

DavidC · Tennis legend

Since Bally took some flak here for losing from 4-1 up in the final set I include an extract from her interview printed in this month's British Tennis magazine:

"I was chasing down a shot at 15-all (when 4-1 up) when I felt a lot of pain in my lower back and that was it. As soon as I came up I thought 'Oh no, I literally can't bend forwards'. Maybe I was stupid that I didn't call a physio, but I was worried that if I stopped my body would cool down and my back would go into spasm. Maybe I should've stopped, but it is easy to say in hindsight. ....... I think my back went because I'd spent so much time on court that week - both my previous matches had lasted three hours. After having back surgery in 2006, it is a sensitive area and I have ongoing problems."

DJ · County player

Thanks for that information, David; what an unlucky girl - at least in tennis terms - is Elena.