Tabakova may sound familiar, being the girl Laura beat in the SF of junior Wimbledon 6-2 7-5.

Was a pretty talented junior as her straightforward wins show.

Romana Tabakova (Svk) bt Lisa Whybourn (Gbr) 6-1 6-7 (7) 7-6 (7)

Close one. Looks like Lisa put up a good fight.

Good effort for a first final, at least she didnt choke it so wont regret lack of effort.

SMC1809 wrote:

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Romana Tabakova (Svk) bt Lisa Whybourn (Gbr) 6-1 6-7 (7) 7-6 (7)

Close one. Looks like Lisa put up a good fight.

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She certainly did (also belated congratulations to Fran on reaching her first 10K semi. Quite remarkable considering she hasn't reached that stage of any of the 15 Grade 2 or above junior events she has tackled. I'm told she has a good work ethic like Katie OB) Here is the LTA's take:

• Meanwhile the womens final at the AEGON Pro-Series in Bournemouth was contested on the acrylic indoor courts at the West Hants Club today following heavy rain on the south coast.
  
• Britains Lisa Whybourn took on the Slovakian Romana Tabokova as both players appeared in their first final at this level and after a lengthy opening game, the 18 year old Slovakian, proved decisive as she went on to win the first set 6-1 in 29 minutes.
  
• However the Cambridgeshire youngster refused to be perturbed, recovering from 1-6, 0-3, then 1-4, then 2-5, showing great determination and resolve to eventually take the second set to a tie-break.
  
• Again Whybourn had to show her fighting spirit to save match points at 4-6 and 6-7 to win the second set 9-7 in the tiebreak, after 2 hours of play.
  
• A similar pattern emerged in the final set with Tabakova being 4-1 and 5-3 up before the match went to another tie break. Once again Whybourn saved match points at 4-6, and 6-7, but the Bratislava based former Junior Wimbledon semi-finalist finally secured her first Professional title on her 7th match point after 3 hours and 2 minutes of play.
  
• This match completed a very successful two weeks of tennis on the south coast, with the Womens singles final being the first occasion it was necessary to move play indoors.

 

Some really good performances here this week from the GB women, especially Lisa who's starting to show the kind of form she first surprised us with last summer.

She twittered: "i lost 1.6 7.6 (7) 6.7(7) faught [sic] like a tiger but not my day!!" ... and she obviously did!

I get the feeling quite a few of the GB women (Elena, Anne, Anna, both Naomis, Lisa, as well as Heather & Laura, who probably always did believe anyway) are really starting to believe these days, and it seems to be becoming infectious.

I wish they'd 'infect' the GB men too!

-- Edited by steven on Sunday 2nd of May 2010 04:56:40 PM

Great Effort Lisa, good to see her back to winning ways after her injuries at the end of last year. She seems like a tough fighter and could really upset some of the higher ranked Brits when it comes to the grass court events.