Khan and Moore deffo lost, looks like the rest did too :( Really sucks! Some scores are on SB now, are they on the grass then?

2 final qualifiers played on the grass today (presumably just 1 court fit to play). All British matches in main draw except Anne (+ Naomi B in final qualifying) are scheduled for tomorrow:


Naomi B v Abigail Spears 1st on Court 1
Naomi C 1st on Centre
Mel v Katie 3rd on Centre
Georgie v Bally 4th on Court 1

Quotes from today, courtesy of LTA site:

Its obviously nice to defend my points from last year, said Broady. I served really well today and that was the key. In the tie-break it just all started to click together and I kept playing really well. I want to keep doing that for the rest of the tournament.

British number 15 Tara Moore, aged only 16, played well above her ranking of 502 as she pushed world number 149, Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa to the brink, before bowing out 4-6,6-1,6-4.

"This was my first ever WTA Tournament here at the AEGON Classic. It's quite surreal to be playing at this level. It comes at you like a gust of wind. To keep up with these girls you have to play your best tennis. Having a taste of it now, I just want to try it again as soon as possible," said Moore.

British number 16 Natasha Khan had an equally positive result as she pushed world number 132 Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal all the way. Despite a ranking gap of over 400 places, the 22 year old Brit put up a fine performance before losing to the hotly tipped teenager 3-6,6-4,6-2.

"I played really well today. I served well too which kept me in the match. I was relaxed and had nothing to lose, so I just went for it, and played one of my best ever matches, said Khan.

Equally impressive was the performance of British number 21 Jocelyn Rae, who has fallen to 750 in the world after several months out with injury. In just her second tournament since her return, she pushed former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands to the brink before succumbing 3-6,7-6(2),6-2.

"I feel pretty gutted after that match but I'm pleased the way I played. I've spoken to my coach and he said I played well and there were just a couple of points in it really that changed the match.

"She stood by her serve quite I lot like I was and then in the third set I lost my serve twice which I shouldn't have done and I think that was what gave her the edge, added Rae

murray_2k9 wrote:

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They all sound positive! Great to hear, and Im glad Tasha did herself proud after my initial doubts over whether her place was really merited!

Tara sounds like she will be confident for Wimb qualies, thats great news! I assume she will get a WC. Who won the Pre Qualy WC thing last year? Was it Tara and Naomi?

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No, they were beaten by Elizabeth Thomas and Anna Smith but got WCs anyway.

 

QR1: (q4) Michaella Krajicek (NED) WR 128 beat (WC) Jocelyn Rae WR 750 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2
QR1: (q5) Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) WR 132 beat (WC) Natasha Khan WR 549 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
QR1: (q10) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) WR 149 beat Tara Moore WR 502 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
QR1: (q6) Carly Gullickson (USA) WR 136 beat Amanda Elliott WR 411 6-4, 6-4
QR1: (q17) Abigail Spears (USA) WR 195 beat (WC) Jade Curtis WR 368 6-4, 6-3
QR1: Naomi Broady WR 361 beat (q16) Meng Yuan (CHN) WR 187 7-6(5), 6-3
QR1: (q8) Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) WR 144 beat (WC) Sarah Borwell WR 467 6-4, 6-2

Ouch, so we're 1-11 in ATP/WTA QR1 matches this weekend - I realise they were against higher-ranked players, but last year we got two qualifiers at Queens and one in Birmingham and 10 match wins in qualifying altogether.

That's true, it's so sad that the grass season is not only far too short, but this also makes the tournaments ridiculously strong for the ranking points available and then on top of that, some of the Brits don't get a chance to even play a grass court match before they're out.