Heather finishes with a df. Started the match holding serve without any problems, then once broken, only managed one hold in the rest of the match.

Laura's 2nd serve is quite interesting in that she won 7 points out of 26, two of those were second serve aces, another 4 were unreturned 2nd serves and only one point was won after the serve, a good forehand straight after the serve that Daniela couldn't control. Of the 19 that she lost, 4 were dfs, 5 were aggressive returns from DH, 6 were points won by good play by DH, typically dominating throughout the rally, 4 were ues from Laura. If anything, it seems as though Laura's 2nd serve simply isn't fast enough as her poor movement means she struggles to recover from any sort of aggressive return, even when she gets one or two extra balls back, she isn't doing enough to put pressure on her opponent. Had she gone for two first serves, you'd expect her to win 5 more points.

I thought she looked very slow around the court. Often late on the return. Far too many awful first groundstrokes after the serve. At *1-2 in the opening set she gave away her serve by dumping two routine groundstrokes, immediately after good first serves, straight in the net. If I was being optimistic, I'd say another couple of weeks on grass and she should improve. 

Progress for this year will be sorting out the serve. 

Phil. I thought I was being a bit harsh when I read my post back, but it sounds like your read of Laura's match was exactly the same as mine. If she puts out a request to all her opponents to hit the ball towards her (so she doesn't have to move and can line up all her shots), I think she would be up there as a top 5 player, but I'm not sure that's quite how tennis really works!

I've read a few biographies of great sportsmen and women in my time, involving all sorts of triumphs and setbacks, but I can't recall any great champions talking about the heartbreak of missing their pets and the impact on their game. Parents of course, but tennis is an international travelling sport anyway, so it goes with the territory.

Interested to hear what you mean about Miles MacLagan.....I have general doubts too, but based on him being rather laid back.....but your comments seemed quite specific.......anything you can say?

paulisi wrote:

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Cracking day and glad the weather held.

Tara I thought was excellent, bar a couple of sloppy games and on another day would have won that game. Mladenovic was pretty awful first set, didn't look comfortable on the grass, but settled down and played much better tennis in sets 2 & 3. Tara generally outplayed a top 40 player and looks a decent prospect. It was a bit damp early on and skidded and had funny bounces, but behaved later on.

Shame Hev and Joko clashed. We opted for Hev and to be fair Hev played very well. Very solid on first serve, bar the one blip when serving for the match when Czink was throwing her toys out of the pram and trying to get the game stopped for rain. Her ground shots were excellent and her serving consistent.

The only other games I saw were Riske and then Vekic. Riske is superb defensively and frustrated Tamira, like she did with Anne and deserved to win. Tamira was still struggling with a chest infection/cough and didn't look fully fit. I think Riske could be a handful for the GB girls if they meet.
Vekic seems to have found her best surface. She was excellent(after a shaky start) and will be a real danger in this tournament and at Wimbledon. She was regularly recording serves over 110 mph and has a good all round game. Everyone around reckons she will in the next couple of years be the next big star.

Nice to meet Priesty, Julia Carrot and Philwrig.

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 Paulisi - Interesting that you talk about Vekic as I am aware she is very young and interesting that you say that she has a good all round game as opposed to just a big serve and forehand. On what you saw - and I suppose you have already answered this to some degree - do you think she would be a threat to Johanna Konta - or even Heather Watson, assuming her form does not drop?