Week 17 - WTA Premier - Stuttgart, Germany - red clay

DavidC · Tennis legend

RE: Week 17 - WTA Premier - Stuttgart, Germany - red clay

DavidC · Tennis legend

4*-3
4-4
5-4*
6-4
7*-4
8-4

DavidC · Tennis legend

8-5*
9-5 (df from Ana)
9*-6

GSM Borwell/Kops-Jones 7-5 3-6 [10-6]

Got there in the end against a scratch pair

murray_2k9 · Challenger qualifying

A scratch pair consisting of a player that has won a slam on that surface is great! I bet she wasnt too happy when she saw how her match compared to her fellow Brits in Morroco! Well done anyway Borops!

Smidster · Challenger level

Important win - defending the 120 points from last year.

Likely to be second seeds in next round - won't be easy

DavidC · Tennis legend

It is the second seeds Peschke and Srebotnik and as expected it is tough going

Borops 2-5*

DavidC · Tennis legend

First set to the second seeds 6-2

DavidC · Tennis legend

Holding their own in set 2, and even had 2 break points in Srebotnik's opening service game

2-6 2*-2

DavidC · Tennis legend

Turn for the second seeds to create 2 break points .... and they only need 1

2-6 2-3*

DavidC · Tennis legend

four comfortable games on serve

2-6 4-5*

DavidC · Tennis legend

They serve out to 30

GSM Peschke/Srebotnik 6-2 6-4

stevemcqueen · Futures qualifying

I enjoyed watching Anna Lepuschenkova beat Safarova on Friday. A great striker of the ball and a new face (to me, anyway) and a very calm demeamour. She had come through qualifying and won her QF as if it was just another day at the office. I was suprised she won the match though, as she did 13 DFs! I've just checked the stats and she did 37 during the main draw, and 63 if we include qualifying!!!!!! This must be a record!!! Its like giving more than 15 games away! I know Dementieva has trouble, but this is absurd!!!!

DavidC · Tennis legend

Sadly I don't think it is a record. Anna Kournikova infamously served 23, 31 and 14 doubles in her first 3 matches of the 1999 Australian Open (winning them all!) before losing to Mary Pierce. Olga Poutchkova threatened Anna's individual record when playing Georgie Stoop a couple of years ago whilst Dinara Safina and Maria Sharapova have often been in the high teens as well.

Sam Smith was commenting on Lapushchenkova v Sam Stosur yesterday evening, and said that she had asked Olga Morozova (first Russian player to make a major impact, winning a grand slam doubles title in the 1970s, and much involved in coaching in Russia, and occasionally in Britain) about the chronic inability of Russian players to serve. Olga apparently said that they had noone around in Russia to coach good technique when players of that generation were growing up, so the only ones with a decent serve (eg Petrova and Kuznetsova) were taught outside Russia.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

weird then that Sharapova has such a weird serve having been coached in Florida...