Week 24 -WTA International ($225k) Nottingham, Grass

jb288 · Satellite level

Week 24 -WTA International ($225k) Nottingham, Grass

Priesty · Challenger level

Jan wrote:
What a feast of British tennis today!
And I'm not remotely jealous of those who were there.....

I was one of those - as were Phil and Julia!

Wish I had tomorrow off as well... cry

Gabi so close today, went absolutely toe to toe with Vekic till the bitter end. Hope she doesn't feel too disheartened.

flamingowings · All-time great

Freya and Laura were watching Katie

Julia Carrot · All-time great

A really great day, apart from the drive there and back - why I try to follow my navigation App when years ago I just drove there with a pencil sketch of the final route is a lesson learned !!

Interestingly, quite independently, Priesty, Phil and I had all opted to watch Jay's match at the same time, so that's where we all met up first of all. Heather having already done the deed over on Court 1 !! So nice to see these guys and have chats and catch-ups.

I'm not going to give match reports - most of you saw or followed scores anyway. But without stirring jealousy it did reinforce the view that there is nothing quite like watching it live/court-side. Amazing, absorbing experience. The players intensity, the movement of the ball so low, the changes of pace of the ball, the length of shots, all of these things and more just don't quite cut it on screen ( or my screen anyway).

I've never seen Evo play live before, I don't think. It truly was a pleasure. It's hard to put into words what special about his game, but it has an elegance/finesse that is quite unusual I think.

I was very impressed by the Nottingham Tennis centre too. The event has grown hugely since I was last there. And huge effort had been put in to make it welcoming and aesthetically pleasing - the floral displays and plantings were lovely and full marks to whoever was responsible for those.

It was nice to see so much support from other players and coaches too. At Gabby's match, first of all I was standing near, Heather's mum, Heather, Laura, her coach Bok, Anne Keothavong, Freya and others who I couldn't put names too, then I joined Priesty in the stand and it was quite a nail-biting and ultimately disappointing outcome, for Gabby but probably no-one expected her to test Vekic that closely.

The last match of the day for me, and finally in gorgeous evening sunshine, was Jo's. She looked good and strong and made few errors but it wasn't the most exciting of matches, just pleasant stress free tennis mostly which was a nice way to round off a great day.

-- Edited by Julia Carrot on Tuesday 12th of June 2018 09:20:34 PM

Michael D · All-time great

Priesty wrote:
Jan wrote:
What a feast of British tennis today!
And I'm not remotely jealous of those who were there.....
I was one of those - as were Phil and Julia!
Wish I had tomorrow off as well...
Gabi so close today, went absolutely toe to toe with Vekic till the bitter end. Hope she doesn't feel too disheartened.

For those that were there did Vekic have an actual injury or were those MTOs gamesmanship on her part? Watching the videostream her movement never seemed hampered at all, though she was obviously annoyed at Gabi running her so close.

vohor · Grand Slam Champion

Terrific result for Katie B :D
Pity Gabi couldn't quite get the win but a great effort; likewise Katie S.
Good to see Heather and Jo making comfortable progress :D

indiana · Tennis legend

Gabi on Twitter :

"Felt at home in my first WTA experience, thanks to the amazing support. Tough one losing but I'll come back stronger."

Peter too · Tennis legend

R1: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) WC 156 def WICKMAYER, Yanina (BEL) 98 6-4 6-4
R1: WATSON, Heather (GBR) 91 def LAO, Danielle (USA) Q 252 6-1 6-3
R1: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 4 22 def NARA, Kurumi (JPN) 97 6-2 6-3
R1: TAYLOR, Gabriella (GBR) WC 168 lost to VEKIC, Donna (CRO) 6 42 5-7 7-5 6-7(3)
R1: SWAN, Katie (GBR) Q 216 lost to BARTHEL, Mona (GER) 117 6-7(5) 5-7

R2: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) WC 156 v STOSUR, Samantha (AUS) WC 103 CH=4 2011
R2: KONTA, Johanna (GBR) 4 22 v WATSON, Heather (GBR) 91
H2H 2-0
Barnstaple 2013 Konta 4-0 Ret.
indian Wells 2017 Konta 6-4 6-4

Priesty · Challenger level

Michael D wrote:
Priesty wrote:
Jan wrote:
What a feast of British tennis today!
And I'm not remotely jealous of those who were there.....
I was one of those - as were Phil and Julia!
Wish I had tomorrow off as well...
Gabi so close today, went absolutely toe to toe with Vekic till the bitter end. Hope she doesn't feel too disheartened.
For those that were there did Vekic have an actual injury or were those MTOs gamesmanship on her part? Watching the videostream her movement never seemed hampered at all, though she was obviously annoyed at Gabi running her so close.

Hard to say for definite but I wouldn't rule gamesmanship out. As you say her movement didn't seem particularly hampered.

the addict · Tennis legend

I've seen a report somewhere that it was a lower back. But it certainly didn't seem to affect her serve.

Julia Carrot · All-time great

I couldnt see,from where I was sitting, what part of her was being treated. I did however think she looked like she was in physical pain when playing at the court end I was sat by.

flamingowings · All-time great

Priesty wrote:
Michael D wrote:
Priesty wrote:
Jan wrote:
What a feast of British tennis today!
And I'm not remotely jealous of those who were there.....
I was one of those - as were Phil and Julia!
Wish I had tomorrow off as well...
Gabi so close today, went absolutely toe to toe with Vekic till the bitter end. Hope she doesn't feel too disheartened.
For those that were there did Vekic have an actual injury or were those MTOs gamesmanship on her part? Watching the videostream her movement never seemed hampered at all, though she was obviously annoyed at Gabi running her so close.
Hard to say for definite but I wouldn't rule gamesmanship out. As you say her movement didn't seem particularly hampered.

Would you be saying gamesmanship if it were Gabi, I wonder?

Michael D · All-time great

flamingowings wrote:
Priesty wrote:
Michael D wrote:
Priesty wrote:
Jan wrote:
What a feast of British tennis today!
And I'm not remotely jealous of those who were there.....
I was one of those - as were Phil and Julia!
Wish I had tomorrow off as well...
Gabi so close today, went absolutely toe to toe with Vekic till the bitter end. Hope she doesn't feel too disheartened.
For those that were there did Vekic have an actual injury or were those MTOs gamesmanship on her part? Watching the videostream her movement never seemed hampered at all, though she was obviously annoyed at Gabi running her so close.
Hard to say for definite but I wouldn't rule gamesmanship out. As you say her movement didn't seem particularly hampered.
Would you be saying gamesmanship if it were Gabi, I wonder?

Absolutely, anybody who pulls out three MTOs, two of which were long in the deciding stretches of a close three set match, in which it looks like time to recover and to disrupt their opponents momentum would be beneficial to them. As noted, although Vekic might have had some pain, her ability to serve - she still served aces - and to move around the court, did not appear inhibited. She may well have had due cause, but anyone Brit or not, pulling off such repeated MTOs at a juncture where they needed recovery time, I would at least suspect of gamesmanship, which is why I asked the question. Also, since as Julia noted, watching the match live allows you to see so much more than just watching on a screen, I was very interested to know if one could see more evidence of Vekic having an actual injury than was possible to deduce via the video feed. Julia's comment was that there was, which is fair enough.

Ace Ventura · Tennis legend

Was just about to say Bathel was serving for the match against Rybarikova, but she has been broken so it's 5-4* final set, but that's got to give Katie S a bit more encouragement if Barthel can be this competitive with Magda.

Michael D · All-time great

In the doubles Laura and Hao-Ching Chan [4] have lost to Falconi and Cabrera in two TBs 7-6(6) 7-6(1) cry

Heather and Buzarnescu have however put out the top seeds 1-6 6-2 10-4 which should give her confidence a further boost. smile