Weeks 21-22 - French Open Main Draw

murrayman650 · ATP level

RE: Weeks 21-22 - French Open Main Draw

jb288 · Satellite level

Well at least it was quick.
As the actress said to the bishop.

S&V · Club Coach

Maybe grass will be better

Peter too · Tennis legend

Comment from Sarah Borwell on GB Tennis Girls having actually watched the match.

I have just returned from Mels match and I was intrigured to see what you guys were saying about it:) the words failure and British mentality sprung to mind and unfortunatly i wasnt wrong. i can understand by watching it maybe by the point by point score tracker you could easily think that Mel choked and started playing poorly,you thankfully would be very wrong in your assumption. The match was possibly the most absorbing match I have ever seen, fought on so many different levels and at the highest standard throughout.The young girl hit her way out of trouble on numerous occasions and didn't play badly at all in the first,mel just defended well and made the girl have to hit one more amazing shot each time. If you had been watching you woudl have realised that the second set was going to be a *** fight. 6 0 sets are always hard and never really give you the full view of the match, if its against 2 good players. Mel didn't sit back, she didnt choke and she didnt let her standard drop, she was immense and as brit I am amazingly proud of how well Mel played today. First match in 7 weeks, you would never have guessed!

I just wanted to write and let you know it is not all doom and gloom, there is no failure on Mels part and i think after the disapointment of losing, she will be very proud of how she equipped herself!!! The stats and score tracker never really gives the full picture and in this instance it certainly didnt.

-- Edited by Peter too on Monday 25th of May 2009 03:26:52 PM

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Glad to hear that, she should do some damage on the grass.

steven · Tennis legend

It's good to hear from someone who was there. There was a post from a spectator on the BBC as it happened page saying it was a great match too.

jb288 · Satellite level

I'm actually quite pleased with Mel; I had thought that her ranking was hopelessly over-inflated on the basis of her stint at the weak Aussie 25ks - but she showed today that she can compete with a top player, who pushes everyone hard (except Anne at Memphis of course), on a tricky surface. The grass is more important for Mel than the others, since she has more points to defend, but with good draws, it looks like she could go far. A disappointing day only because they've done so well to make it possible.

ForeverDelayed · Grand Slam Champion

Looks like Katie never got into her match but she was playing a player who is a lot better than she is, and she was on her worst surface, so not suprising that she lost so easily, but she probably should have got a bit closer than she did to the win.

Gutting defeat for Mel though having bagelled MLDB in the first set (although doing that to her seems to be a dangerous thing to do) and having served for the match, and then broken back when MLDB served for the match.

Sadly though it seems another occasion where a British girl has failed to close out a winning situation - that said, didn't think Mel would get a set against her so she's done well in that respect, but to get so close to winning and yet end up losing is perhaps worse than an easy defeat.

jb288 · Satellite level

Some interesting match reports over on GBTGs.
Sounds like Mel played a good game and is hitting well, though Bolletieri still thinks she's a poor mover apparently. Sounds like Katie was simply outclassed and lacked tactics and consistency; I do find it odd that apparently she kept serving flat serves both first and second - slice serves aren't too hard for us amateurs, so surely a world no.110 can master them fairly easily?! It seems quite an easy thing to remedy if you know you're going to be playing on clay. I think it'll have to be chalked down as an off-day for Katie; I really hope her good year doesn't falter -although frankly even if it does she should garner enough points to make top 100 at some point. It sounds like she works incredibly hard - I just hope it all comes to fruition on the grass. Apparently she was struggling to get past the service line on the backhand - I noticed Anne was much the same against Safina, and it makes them so vulnerable.

-- Edited by jb288 on Tuesday 26th of May 2009 02:57:47 PM

jb288 · Satellite level

de Brito beat Zheng 4 and 3.
Could've been a big break for Mel...but shows how well she fought.

steven · Tennis legend

I'd just noticed that too - it does make you wonder if Mel could have got really big points here had she managed to finish the job against screechy.

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

Shvedova hammered Rus 6-0 6-2, showing just how good she is.... Rus of course being the girl who put Katie out in the FQR. I guess had Elena had the LL spot she might have done some damage? Hard to say though.

I will look forward to seeing her play Sharapova to see how good she is. I still think its looking good for the grass, and if Mel keeps working on her fitness she might have her big break at Wimb, the USO or next years AO. Maybe even the French Open 2010.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

The Portuguese Screech Owl (PSO? wink

) has finally been beaten, 6-7(2) 2-6, by Aravane Rezai (FRA). biggrin

I gather she was booed off court at the end of the match on Chatrier, presumably because the crowd objected to the assault on its collective ear drums!

* If journalists working for the broad sheets can come out with comments like those quoted below, what are the tabloids going to make of her, come Wimbledon? confuse

OEM:

- "a Portuguese teenager whose shriek could shatter glass" (before the match with Mel)

- "a 16-year-old whose shrieking set new standards of indecency....

[...]

De Brito is a student at the Nick Bollettieri IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where, legend has it, she had a dismissive attitude to others. To teach her a lesson, Martina Hingis was once asked to have a hit with her. De Brito had no idea who her opponent was and won only one game. The noise she makes as she strikes the ball makes Maria Sharapova seem mute. South did not want to make a fuss about it, but someone in authority should have a quiet word with her, if she knows the meaning of the word quiet." (at either end of his report on the match)

And Barry Flatman:

"Most people would certainly have permitted [Mel] South to do something other than laugh at her decidedly unsporting Portuguese opponent.... De Brito grunts [only grunts? disbelief ] as loud as anybody on the tour, but these days that's acceptable."

Well, it shouldn't be acceptable! As someone pointed out last weekend, however, there's nobody in authority with the backbone to do anything about it! cry Wonder if she herself is bright enough to start to get the message after today?

The Hoose · Satellite level

It's Bartoli who I can't bear to watch. She does a practice serve before every real serve - even before she gets to play that double-handed forehand.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Stircrazy wrote:

The Portuguese Screech Owl (PSO? ) has finally been beaten, 6-7(2) 2-6, by Aravane Rezai (FRA). I gather she was booed off court at the end of the match on Chatrier, presumably because the crowd objected to the assault on its collective ear drums!

I think I've finally got to the bottom of that one - from the Beeb's "Day 6 at the French Open as it happened" (or whatever it's called):

1202: Aravane Rezai beats Michelle Larcher de Brito 7-6 (7-3) 6-2, bringing to an end the enchanting run of the 16-year-old Portuguese wunderkind. She may be gone, but she will not be forgotten. De Brito gives the most cursory of handshakes and then sarcastically applauds the crowd on her way off, prompting the inevitable jeers. All of which overshadows a first Grand Slam fourth-round place for Rezai.

* "Enchanting"? I'd've thought this, from later in the day on the same thread, belies that description:

1528: The shrieking of Michelle Larcher de Brito is definitely becoming one of those issues. Apparently, when warned by the umpire, the 16-year-old said: "Sharapova has never been told that she was shouting too loud." And in her post-match news conference, she added: "I guess that was a bit of Rezai's tactic to throw me off a little bit. I played her last time in Miami and she did the same thing. When she did that, the crowd was on her side. Everybody supported her statement to the umpire. It threw me off a little bit, but I guess she has to find a way to win. It got a little bit under my skin. It shouldn't have, but I'm young and I'm still learning."

* Hmm... 16 or no, something tells me she's fully aware of what she's doing & quite unrepentant! Pity she can't be forgotten - just yet!