Reports from Sunderland:

Sarah Coles GBR v (2) Anne Keothavong GBR

With Anne's ranking at 194 and Sarah's at 723, I was expecting a fairly one-sided match here, but it was far from that. Sarah was broken in the first game but broke back immediately. There were several closely-fought games, then Sarah was broken again and again broke back immediately to bring the score to 5 all. The set went to a tiebreak, in which Anne came out the victor at 7 points to 3.

In the second set, the games were again closely contested. Sarah seemed to be on top, breaking Anne in the third game and maintaining that lead through to the tenth game, when Anne broke back to 5 all once more. Again the set went to a tiebreak, with Anne taking it 7 points to 2.

I think anybody watching this match without knowing anything about the relevant rankings of the two players would have thought Sarah Coles the higher of the two, except in the tiebreaks. Anne seemed out of sorts with herself, continually berating herself when she made errors. However when it came to the crunch of the tiebreaks her greater experience asserted itself. Sarah Coles could be one to watch if she learns how to close out a match.

Katie O'Brien GBR v Andrea Hlavackova CZE

This match was on at the same time as the above, but although I couldn't really watch it I could keep an eye on the scoreboard. In the first set, Katie served first and broke her opponent in the second game, then held to take the set 6-3. In the second set the Czech served first and was broken in the first game; the set went with serve to 5-3 for Katie, who then broke again to take the set, and therefore the match, 6-3 6-3.

-- Edited by Madeline at 20:36, 2006-02-10

-- Edited by Madeline at 20:38, 2006-02-10