4th chance

grrrrrr

4th MP Bondarenko

GSM Bondarenko good fight Katie just not to be

Yup ...

First day review:

Bally: Played adequately the first set and a half against an opponent clearly out of sorts who was making several UE. But at 3-2 with a break Bally suddenly started to tighten up and her opponent known for her fighting qualities cut out the majority of her errors leading to Bally put under more and more pressure. I thought Bally would still just about serve it out but she couldn't and the writing was on the wall from that moment on. If this was just an average tournament Bally would have rallied in the final set and fought her way back but due to terminal pressure that Wimby brings for British players she couldn't. Next year under the same circumstances she would be fine but carrying the clear favourites tag she couldn't play her normal relaxed/pumped up style of tennis.

Mel: The less said about this the better although I have to say her opponent was very consistent and played much better than I expected.

Laura: Nothing surprised me here. Played better as the match wore on. Probably played up to the level of her HC final appearance. Top 50 performance when at her best. Seems to be getting stronger and fitter which allowed her to sustain her level of play in the second set when the rallies became longer and more intense. Speed around the court still a huge issue but when it improved in the second set she really put JJ under pressure. Will need to improve that part of her play to become a top 10 player. I still see her levelling out somewhere between the 10 and 30 range assuming she remains as dedicated as she is at the moment. Serve easily the best I've seen it and she can dictate the points using some great angles and power from both her BH/FH side. Needs to improve her slice/defensive play.

Katie: Was this on a televised court ? Court 15 so I assumed not. Was only able to follow it on live score. Appears a much improved performance but as Indy tells us rightly so it is impossible to tell from watching the live score what her level of play was. It appears to be a very plucky performance with the usual inherent weaknesses on serve. Never felt she was going to win but much happier with her performance on the face of it. I wonder though whether she would have been able to have seen out the win if given the opportunity. Her confidence levels in general must be shot to pieces.