The presence of so many high powered tournaments has caused a ridiculous qualifying draw here with no fewer than 11 byes. Only 3 Brits have signed in here, so presumably a lot will be in Nottingham qualifying.
Naomi Broady has been drawn in one of the stronger sections, with Nottingham quarter-finalist Sloane Stephens. She plays second tomorrow, with lottie opening at 11am and Natasha following naomi on Court 1.
QR1
(2) Sloane Stephens (USA) v Bye
(WC) Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) v (12) Naomi Broady (GBR)
(3) Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) Bye
(WC) Lottie Fox (GBR) v (13) Sarah Gronert (GER)
(4) Sesil Karatantcheva (KAZ) Bye
(WC) Natasha Starling (GBR) v (14) Conny Perrin (SUI)
-- Edited by DavidC on Friday 3rd of June 2011 08:10:41 PM
QR1: (q12) Naomi Broady beat Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) UNR (but doubles WR 55 and had a singles CH of 162 in 2007) by 3 & 3 QR1: (wc) Lottie Fox lost to (q13) Sarah Gronert (GER) WR 278 by 3 & 1
FQR: (q12) Naomi Broady v (q2) Sloane Stephens USA WR 143
-- Edited by steven on Saturday 4th of June 2011 12:56:50 PM
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
I saw Sloane playing MldB at Nottingham, and although she tried to adapt to playing on grass more than the Portugese (who was content to just trade heavy groundies from the back, and offered virtually no variety unlike the American) her front court game needs a lot of work, so at this stage Naomi must have a realistic chance of an upset.
-- Edited by DavidC on Saturday 4th of June 2011 01:04:49 PM
I believe that's Natasha's third ranking point too.
Yes it is though the first of her three counting scores is due to drop off on 11 July so she will only have a ranking very fleetingly if she does not get another counter in the next few weeks.
__________________
GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!