Great stuff, Anna  

Well, I did say I thought Anna could pull off a win and I expected a close match.

Ahh, close match -  hmm ?   Well it did seem pretty close, particularly on points in the 1st set till the end,  and overall they each had 7 BPs  ( Anna won 4, Hrdinova 0 ) and actually more seriously quite interestingly Anna's service games were long, over 8 points a game while Hrdinova's were much shorter and sweeter on average whoever won them.  64 - 47 points overall is still fairly clear and Anna seemed totally in charge at the end.  Great win !

I've been singing praises about her consistency for weeks.  Did you know she hasn't lost to anyone currently outside the top 300 this year ?  ( just noticed Kremer is now within the top 300 ) and she's matching well to the best opponents she meets.  Including this win, of the top 4 top ranked oppnents she has met ( Hrdinova and three within the top 200 ) she is now 3 - 1 up.   Her losses, by process of elimanation, you will gather have almost all been to players in the 200 to 300 range, disgraceful 

Anyway, this will now be her 5th semi final appearance of the year ( 3 10Ks and now 2 25Ks ) and it would be great if she could make her first final of the year, particularly as it is a 25K.  If she did, she would then be right on the heels of Naomi Broady in the provisional ranking list and quite close to Georgie Stoop. As it is, as SMC says, her progress to the semis by itself should see her break  into the top 300. 

... her win/loss record this year is 20-6, i.e. 77%!

indiana wrote:

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steven wrote:

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... her win/loss record this year is 20-6, i.e. 77%!

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Actually, Steven, not quite.  I have ( rather sadly maybe  ) her full list of results this year in front of me, and it's actually  20 - 7  ( 74% ).  

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Oops, make that 74% then!  I never was good at counting past 5 ...

Movigng swiftly on ... since winning the 10K title in Felixstowe last summer, she has played 5 semis and lost the lot, I wonder if that streak will end tomorrow.

-- Edited by steven on Friday 26th of March 2010 01:06:10 PM

SMC1809 wrote:

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Hogenkamp current a set up against Beltrame. Who would you prefer to win and face Anna? 

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I have spent a little time trying to consider this, and found it quite difficult.  Pretty tough opponents either way and with definite things to recommend them both.  The fact that it is currently a very close match between the two does suggest not much in it really.

I'd come down marginally in favour of Anna being better playing Beltrame.

Beltrame is still a solid top 200 player ( well, ranked just outside ) and has been inside the top 50 a few years ago. No great wins this year but reasonable performances.  Lost in 3 sets to Bally in Australian Open qualifying, beat Naomi Broady in Midland last moth 7 - 6  4 - 6  6 -4

Hogenkamp is clearly a rising player, just 17.  Ranked 369 but you can forget that, she's going to rise much much higher. Just started playing senior tournaments last summer and won 3 10K ttles in her first 4 tournaments and also beat top 200 players in 25Ks. No activity shown for her this year but here has beaten Naomi Broady in qualifying ( 7 - 5  6 - 2 )  bit easier than Beltrame did last month and Cav 6 - 4  7 - 6 in R1 before thumping top seed Groth 6 -2  6 - 0 in round 2. Given she has not played much this year, she may even be playing herself into better form.

Match continues to be close.  Beltrame just broken to go 3 - 1 up in the 3rd set. Overall is ahead on breaks 6 to 5, so probably not the last break in the match.

-- Edited by indiana on Friday 26th of March 2010 02:04:29 PM

I would pick Hogenkemp as Anna seems to be playing very consistently at the moment.  Hogenkemp's best is probably better than Anna's best tennis, but hopefully Hogenkemp would be too erratic and Anna could win in 3 sets by playing solid throughout.  She has won a lot of matches this year but lost in the 2nd round of Bath 6-0 7-5 to the eventual finalist (who beat Anna 2 and 2 in the semis) and 6-3 6-0 to Molik in the semis in an Aussie 25K.  Clearly two very good players but bagels in both matches?

I just think Beltrame with her greater experience would be able to grind the match out while Hogenkemp may get down on herself if things aren't going her way.

Can she play the loser ?  

Just to back up my earlier post which suggested the qualifying draw was a nightmare/tough one generally speaking I have been proven correct.

1. Kremer who beat Tara reached the quarter finals before losing to Larsson in three sets the clear tournament favourite.

2. Hogenkamp proved she was a very tough opponent by reaching the quarters.

3. Two other qualifiers also reached the QFs with our Anna still going strong.