Week 36 - ITF ($10K) - Antalya, Turkey - Hard

john · Top national player

RE: Week 36 - ITF ($10K) - Antalya, Turkey - Hard

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

steven wrote:
R2: SOUTH, Melanie (GBR) 669 beat SMITH, Anna (GBR) 709 by 6-2 1-6 6-1

... setting up an ex-top 100 v ex-top 400 QF:

QF: SOUTH, Melanie (GBR) 669 v MUKHAMETOVA, Anastasia (RUS) Q 1133 (CH 394 in 2011)

Tweet from Mel :

Melanie South @melaniesouth 7m

saved 4 set points in the second set before winning 6-1 7-6 (6) so through to the semis now :) doubles in half an hour

Well done to her !

steven · Tennis legend

Mel: "saved 4 set points in the second set before winning 6-1 7-6 (6) so through to the semis now :) doubles in half an hour"

All's well that ends well, but I'm surprised the 2nd set was so close given that Danielle Konotoptseva beat Mukhamedova in straight sets a few weeks ago.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Hopefully a confidence boost and a few weeks of good runs. Mel shouldn't really be competing at this level.

steven · Tennis legend

QF: SOUTH, Melanie (GBR) 669 beat MUKHAMETOVA, Anastasia (RUS) Q 1133 (CH 394 in 2011) by 6-1 7-6(6)

SF: SOUTH, Melanie (GBR) 669 v BOGDAN, Ana (ROU) 1 335 (former junior no. 2)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Doubles:

SF

Emma LAINE (FIN) / Melanie SOUTH (GBR) [2] def. Nicole COLLIE (AUS) / Hirono WATANABE (JPN) [3] 6-3 6-0

Final

Emma LAINE (FIN) / Melanie SOUTH (GBR) [2] v Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA) / Tanaporn THONGSING (THA)

So that's semis in the singles and final in the doubles for Mel . ..

(PS Sitrcrazy, re the other thread, I'm with you !!! Most people have a certain interest in the doubles and, if they don't, they can just skip over it !!!!)

PockyTastic · Futures level

Coup Droit wrote:
Doubles:

SF

Emma LAINE (FIN) / Melanie SOUTH (GBR) [2] def. Nicole COLLIE (AUS) / Hirono WATANABE (JPN) [3] 6-3 6-0

Final

Emma LAINE (FIN) / Melanie SOUTH (GBR) [2] v Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA) / Tanaporn THONGSING (THA)

So that's semis in the singles and final in the doubles for Mel . ..

(PS Sitrcrazy, re the other thread, I'm with you !!! Most people have a certain interest in the doubles and, if they don't, they can just skip over it !!!!)

I've clearly missed something somewhere. As singles and doubles events are held as part of a singular tournament it makes sense viewing them side by side. A retirement in a doubles match can explain a withdrawal from singles.

steven · Tennis legend

Bogdan is a set and a break up already 6-1 *2-1

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

SF: SOUTH, Melanie (GBR) 669 lost to BOGDAN, Ana (ROU) 1 335 (former junior no. 2) 6-1 6-4

TomTraubert · Futures level

no real surprise
bogdan vertually lives in antalys she plays there so much and had loadsa success there several wins and other finals to

for ashigh as WR335 bogdan has a very strange schedule over the last year

anyways mel got 2 more games off her than any one else yet this week

hope the relative success this week learns her the benefit of the training block she done recent and she gets another one in sharpish. she still a natural talent

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Final

Emma LAINE (FIN) / Melanie SOUTH (GBR) [2] def. Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA) / Tanaporn THONGSING (THA) 6-4 6-3

Well done to Mel. Doubles champion. And singles semi-finalist. As TomT says, supposedly she's been doing a big fitness block. All good.

steven · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Final

Emma LAINE (FIN) / Melanie SOUTH (GBR) [2] def. Patcharin CHEAPCHANDEJ (THA) / Tanaporn THONGSING (THA) 6-4 6-3

Well done to Mel. Doubles champion. And singles semi-finalist. As TomT says, supposedly she's been doing a big fitness block. All good.

That's Mel's 24th ITF pro doubles title and 6th with Emma (who has won 31), though their other 5 together came at 25K level or above.

Having beaten one Cheapchandej, I wonder if they'll go out and drink another one to celebrate wink (igmc)

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Mel has just gone up HUGELY in my esteem :

Melanie South ‏@melaniesouth 2h

why do girls find it so hard to look their opponent in the eye when they shake hands at the end of the match? respect and sportsmanship???

She's absolutely right - the men seem to manage a reasonable 'well done' handshake, most are even quite pleasant about it, i.e. they're cross they lost but it's not a personal thing against the opponent.
But the women !!! Truly scary . . .

NB Mel also says:

Melanie South ‏@melaniesouth 2h

lost singles 1 and 4 today, part were very high level tennis

steven · Tennis legend

Coup Droit wrote:
Mel has just gone up HUGELY in my esteem :

Melanie South ‏@melaniesouth 2h

why do girls find it so hard to look their opponent in the eye when they shake hands at the end of the match? respect and sportsmanship???

She's absolutely right - the men seem to manage a reasonable 'well done' handshake, most are even quite pleasant about it, i.e. they're cross they lost but it's not a personal thing against the opponent.
But the women !!! Truly scary . . .

NB Mel also says:

Melanie South ‏@melaniesouth 2h

lost singles 1 and 4 today, part were very high level tennis

She absolutely right about the women - even (or maybe especially) at the top level, it's ridiculous how little respect most of them seem to treat each other with.

As for Mel herself, whatever you think about her in tennis terms, she always comes across in her tweets as having a very healthy attitude towards life in general and towards other people in particular

Ratty · County player

Simple biology, I'd guess.

Men tend to have higher testosterone levels than women, and so tend to be more competitive. Hence men are behaving "naturally" when playing a one-on-one sport like tennis. However, women are behaving "unnaturally", and so this would explain the awkwardness they feel when it's over.