philwrig wrote:

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.......I'm pretty sure also she intends to play the junior Fed Cup assuming we qualify for the finals.

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If she seriously wants to play the Junior Fed Cup she really needs to play the qualifying at the end of July. She is currently named as reserve (to Jess, Katy and Jo) but we are in a group with 2 extremely strong teams, Ukraine and France, so are unlikely to reach the European Summer Cup finals let alone the Junior Fed Cup without her.

 

Doubles details:

QF:  (1) Sania Mirza (IND) & Laura Robson WR 211 lost to Nigina Abduraimova & Tammi Patterson (UZB/AUS) by 4-6 6-2 [7-10]
QF:  (3) Jos Rae & Emelyn Starr (AUS) WR 509 defeated (WC) Hope Johnson & Claire Ricketts UNR by a walkover
QF:  (WC) Georgina Bastick & Lottie Fox UNR lost to Miyabi Inoue & Sachie Ishizu (JPN/JPN) UNR by 2 & 3
QF:  Timea Babos & Emma Laine (HUN/FIN) WR 685 defeated (2) Naomi Cavaday & Anna Smith WR 405 by 6-4 4-6 [10-5]

SF:  Nigina Abduraimova & Tammi Patterson (UZB/AUS) vs (3) Jos Rae & Emelyn Starr (AUS) WR 509
SF:  Miyabi Inoue & Sachie Ishizu (JPN/JPN) vs Timea Babos & Emma Laine (HUN/FIN) WR 685

Tennis36 wrote:

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10 minute game that, wonder how many bp's

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Only one or two I think, Laura had a load of set points though.

RBBOT wrote:

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I think high wind may also be something that counts against Laura; she often seems to be affected by it more than her opponent and given the way it is gusting through my office window in Central London, I'd imagine conditions weren't good on court either.

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There was quite a lot of wind, Laura at one point commenting its like playing in a hurricane.

philwrig wrote:

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With tie-breaks she can struggle, one notable exception being the Hopman Cup final. I wouldn't be surprised if she served at least one DF in todays TB as she lost 5 out of her 6 service points in the TB. She was only broken 3 out of 15 times for the whole match before that.

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There was one double fault at either 4 or 5-1, although Babos did play well and won most of the points rather than Laura losing them.

Overall impression was it was pretty level throughout. Laura started slowly after they came off the court for a couple of mins at deuce in the 1st game and played a poor game to lose her seve. The rest of the set was dominated by serve, I don't think there were any more break points. 2nd set Laura won a tight game to get the early break then Babos lost her concentration and was quickly down 5-0. Laura seemed to relax thinking the set was over and was quite lucky to win it in the end but eventually found a couple of first serves to close it out. Again the 3rd set was very tight all the way but Babos did look the more likely winner throughout. Laura was hanging in a lot of her service games as her 2nd serve was constantly attacked and she wasn't getting enough first serves in. Babos played some good points in the TB and although Laura made a bit of a comeback winning both return points at 1-6* she lost the first match point on her own serve as Babos attacked the serve again.

Not sure how much the conditions really affected her, it was windy and both players had to catch their toss quite a few times. Laura berated herself once for hitting the ball high in the strong winds but it looked as if the shot was going out anyway whether or not the wind caught it.

Unfortunately Laura was in full tantrum mode, swearing under her breath and moaning at Bok quite a lot. At one point she shouted at herself 'Why are you playing like a defender? You can't defend cos you can't run' so she is clearly aware where her weaknesses lie. Babos seemed to know it as well hitting quite a few dropshots although Laura dealt with well, it was more her side to side movement that seemed lacking. She was throwing her racket around a bit and at the end of the match her Mum came over to Bok and said she just has to grow up. I needed the toilet quite desperately by the end of the match and so passed Laura and her Mum having nearly having a full on fight with Laura making a beeline for the changing rooms and her Mum trying to restrain her to talk about the match presumably. It must be difficult with your parents there though, especially at a time when you just want to be alone after a tough defeat.

Babos was very impressive and by no means did Laura hand the match to her. I only saw a few games of the other 2 quarters but Abdurimova looked very good for someone so young. Big and strong I was surprised when I saw she was 6 months younger than Laura although I reckon Babos will win. Haven't really watched Laine at all but she must have played well to beat Ruutel so convincingly. Katie played her usual way against Anna, very solid and just getting every ball back until the finishing line was in sight when it all began to get a bit edgy. If she can keep her nerve it should be a tight match although you have to favour Laine on the back of her results this week.

Afraid I can't make it for the last 2 days, although even if I was free on Saturday I wouldn't be going since they are trying to charge a £6 entry fee for some reason. Also spoke to Laura's Mum for a couple of minutes in the queue in the cafe and she said Laura plans to play US Open Juniors. I did ask if she intended to play Wrexham next week but didn't really get an answer.

Wow, thanks for the insight josh. Some very interesting comments there. I hope you dont mind but ive posted this on lauras thread on Andymurray.com, but ive credited you with the write up (if you want me to delete it , just pm me)

thanks

Katie has beaten Laine: "Had another tight one, but finished on the winning end. Soooo windy here. Hitting the golf course again later...can't do worse than y'day!"