Freya and Serena is an excellent match. Serena is definitely one to keep an eye on.
She's off to the States, I think, next year (or plans to anyway). But, as noted before, she's been on my pick list for a while too - a lot of really good qualities.
Re paulisi's comments, yep, I love Mollie Crouch's hair-dos ! Really chic and they make it so easy to recognise her from a distance - a lot of other players (all nationalities) all blend into one ....
(5) Despina Papamichail GRE d. Lily Ghodrati GBR 6-1 6-1
Ema Lazic GBR d. (13) Sabastiani Leon MEX 7-5 4-6 6-3
(4) Bianca Turati ITA d. Mollie Crouch GBR 6-3 6-3
(15) Savannah Sills GBR d. Francesca Wilkes GBR 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4
(11) Steffi Carruthers SAM d. Lisa Phillips GBR 6-2 6-0
(8) Carla Touly FRA d. Eden Richardson 6-0 6-1
(7) Mariam Bolkvadze GEO vs. Ellie Tsimbilakis GBR 6-1 *5-1
Very nice day. Nice big posh modern club with excellent facilities in terms of lounge area, food and bar.
The viewing area is slightly unusual in that you have to watch side on rather than end on, which makes watching courts 2&3 a bit more distant.
It was great to see a lot of players that I had never seen before. I'd only seen Ellie-Rose and Manisha play before.
A couple of observations. The majority of the girls playing today all play in the same style and thus a lot comes down to error count, experience and mental strength.
There were very few spectators other than parents and coaches.
Louise Holtum played some stunning tennis in the second set, was very aggressive and very accurate. How she didn't win the set, I've no idea.
Chloe Hughes played quite nicely. She is coaching at Wrexham and I got the impression she was going to play a bit more on tour next year. If she plays like that, she is more than capable of picking up points.
Ceire Mullins- on the far court. Didn't see any of that match
Manisha was typical Manisha. Kept a lot of balls in court and waited for Holly to make the mistakes, which she did.
Mollie is a real talent and played really well. She plays one handed on both sides and has A Federeresque style which is very pleasant on the eye. She hit a lot of winners and was very aggressive, but with that came a lot of errors and if she manages her game properly with the right shot selection, she could go well on the pro tour. However that is easier said than done.
Emily Appleton had it very easy against an average Turkish player, who made errors on a regular basis. The highlight was an outrageous drop shop from the back of the court. She will have half a chance against Turati, who is an out and out clay courter, but was superb defensively.
Lily Ghodrati got pummelled and doesn't look ready for this level year. She was a very unusual forehand.
Ellie-Rose - didn't see too much of this, but there wasn't too much in it. Ellie-Rose has good court coverage but probably needs a little more power in her game.
Freya was outplayed by Serena for large proportions of the game, but somehow found a way through without playing that well. The one big weapon that did cause problems was Freya's swinging serve out wide.
Ema Lazic - this was a break fest. Both girls were very busy in the first set, but struggled to hold serve and Ema had the better ground strokes. Ema then starting making errors in the second set. Went 4-0 down, had a bit of treatment on her back and then started playing again. It was back on serve at 4-5 only to get broken again. After an even start in the final set, Ema seemed to be the fitter of the two, went a double break up, got broken serving for the match and then immediately broke back for the match.
Her match versus Freya will be interesting, but I suspect Freya will have too much experience.
Ellie T - first match on the main tour and it showed. Totally outclassed. She also didn't know the rules as she got told her logo on her top was far too large and against regulations(but was then let off)
Lisa Phillips - another that was outclassed. Weirdly she tried to serve and I'm not quite sure what happened, but she missed the ball and her shock absorber went about 30 yards to the right.
Eden was outclassed. Started with two double faults and never got into the match. She has missed a lot of tennis this year and it showed.
Didn't see any of Savannah v Fran match, but it seemed quite close and Fran was very disappointed at the end of the match.
Wow...thanks for all that info! I was really interested to see how Freya/Serena went. For all of Freya's experience, Serena can, at times, hit really high levels herself although her play can also get a bit wild. Thought it could be a good match to watch.
I've seen Mollie three or four times now, and I agree - she plays well and is getting better each time, and is still young. Needs to work on movement. And margin - her technique doesn't give her much (especially on her BH).