week 24 - ITF ($100K) - Didsbury, Manchester, UK Grass

DF · Tennis legend

week 24 - ITF ($100K) - Didsbury, Manchester, UK Grass

wolf · Tennis legend

1st Round
Harriet DART (GBR) / Katy DUNNE (GBR) 2-6 7-6(4) [10-8] Naomi BROADY (GBR) / Maria SANCHEZ (USA) [1]
Akiko OMAE (JPN) / Maryna ZANEVSKA (BEL) [4] 6-4 4-6 [10-5] Ankita RAINA (IND) / Emily WEBLEY-SMITH (GBR)
Danielle LAO (USA) / Samantha MURRAY (GBR) 6-1 6-3 Aleksandra PITAK (GBR) / Katarzyna PITAK (GBR)
Katie BOULTER (GBR) / Katie SWAN (GBR) 6-1 6-2 Maria IRIGOYEN (ARG) / Paula KANIA (POL) [3]
Naiktha BAINS (AUS) / Vivian HEISEN (GER) 4-6 6-2 [10-3] Sarah Beth GREY (GBR) / Olivia NICHOLLS (GBR)

Priesty · Challenger level

Had an enjoyable day today on my first ever visit to the Northern LTC, spectating in the company of Paulisi who stayed on after I left. Unfortunately neither of us knew what Hoots looked like! Katie B v Sam made for an interesting contrast in styles, some lovely touch play from Sam at times but not quite enough of it and Katie's greater consistency won through in the end.

Naomi did what she had to do to win but didn't really distinguish herself and will need to up her game if she is to progress much further I think.

As Hoots has said, Gabi played very well after a bad start although this was much to do with Kerkhove who came out firing on all cylinders but then faded rapidly. Good solid match from Gabi and an impressive display.

Paulisi and I dropped in on Emily when she was 6-3 1-4 and thought she might do it when she retrieved the break and forced a tiebreaker. However a couple of errors cost her dear and her opponent visibly grew in confidence after she'd levelled the match. The third was a bit one sided.

Looking forward to Edgbaston next week!

paulisi · Tennis legend

Interesting day. Very warm, very big crowd and some interesting tennis.
Only charged £7 today....
Sat with Priesty most of the day.

Firstly very surprised that EWS got a LL at 10.45 she was still netting, so it may have been a very late call up. I was positioned well to see both Katie B v Sam and EWS.
First time I've seen Emily play live and she should have won the first set, she had numerous break points early on and could convert. The late break and a couple of poor calls threw her off her game. As for her game - impressed. Big serve, mixed it up with some serve and volley and competent from the back of the court. Diyas looked rusty, but you could see the talent there.
Katie B v Sam was a strange match. Katie very tentative early on, Sam error prone, but Katie dominated the first set. Second set was the opposite. Sam was very consistent, Katie making lots of errors. Third set Katie got the early break and just about hung on. The standard wasn't great, but Katie just about deserved to win. Katie's strength is her serve, her ground strokes lacked penetration at times and if she stays at that level, she will struggle to win regularly against higher ranked opposition. Sam was solid and a lot better than her ranking, just needs the consistency now.
Naomi made a horrible start, but out hit her opponent and powered her way to a comfortable win, despite not being at her best. Her backhand never got going until halfway through the second set and her serve was a bit hit and miss.
Gabbi Taylor also made a horrible start broken twice to go 3-0 down, before dominating the rest of the match. Very impressed with Gabbi.Big serve were someone of average height and plays from a very low centre of gravity. Hit lots of winners and totally outplayed Kerkhove, who started like a house on fire and faded badly. Based on what I've seen this week, she is the best prospect of that group in the 200-350 range.
Another one I was impressed with was Emily Appleton despite defeat. I only saw her from halfway through the second set, but has added a lot of power since I last saw her. Very big serve, big forehand and decent at the net. Did well to get it back to a tie breaker, but made a few errors and the German upped her levels significantly.

As for EWS in the doubles - close match, but the opposition played the MTB much better. The Japanese girl had a mare in the second set.

I think the no advance and MTB have ruined doubles and made the results a lottery.

-- Edited by paulisi on Wednesday 14th of June 2017 07:30:29 PM

DavidC · Tennis legend

Just to add my threepennorth on a day when there were clearly several board members present

I arrived to discover that Em had replaced Kayla Day. While delightful for Em I wished it had been at another player's expense, as I was particularly looking forward to seeing Kayla, as a top junior progressing rapidly. Em was pleasingly competitive for the first set, and should have levelled at 5-5 (she led 40-0 and had chances in a couple of the following rallies). Zarina was beginning to dominate more rallies though, so I sensed a more straightforward second set and moved to a position where I could see Centre / Court 1.

The match between Sam and Katie was rather staccato, with some good points surrounded by rather too many decided by errors to keep me fully engaged, though it was pleasing to see Sam competitive at this level with some good net play. My attention increasingly wandered to the all-Belgian match on court 1. As juniors Alison Van Uytvanck and An-Sophie Mestach were in the same year, but it was the latter who was the more highly regarded, and eventually won a slam. However Alison dominated most of this match and you could see why she reached the top 50 a year or so ago.

Naomi served very well, which kept her largely out of trouble against a limited opponent - as hoots said comfortable without being totally convincing. Gabi (watched by David Felgate, Jeremy Bates and both Katies) seemed to lull Kerkhove into a false sense of security with her flat start. Once she found her rhythm she showed more consistency with her groundies than any of the other British players today, and the Dutch player did not have another gear to respond.

DF · Tennis legend

Thanks for the reports, guys. Interesting.

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

Seeing a lot of doubles and lottery type comments.....

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Great reports - that's what we need - reports flooding in !

Gabi is amazingly good on grass for someone who spent most of her time in Spain. (She should have beaten Vania King last year and made the FQR at Wimbly). Sign of a natural talent to be that versatile.
Means Katy Dunne must have played very well to beat her in R1 last week - which is encouraging in itself.

Good that the reports backed up what it looked like on livestream for Katie B - her serve being impressive, that is, but the ground shots lacking conviction - she used to hit through the ball far more a couple of years ago - I don't know if it's her injury, or the 'don't-make-an-error' sort of coaching approach but it's a shame - the shots are there.

Hope you're all going tomorrow !

indiana · Tennis legend

Jaggy1876 wrote:
Seeing a lot of doubles and lottery type comments.....

I hate no-ad, relatively don't mind nearly so much MTBs though in an ideal world prefer the normal number number of ganes.

However, asking doubles pairs to play first to 10 with a two point margin isn't exactly a lottery ( if clearly more perilous for the supposedly better team than a full set ).

I intend to gather some stats on the leading men's and women's pairs over the last year in MTBs. I expect that they have significantly better than a 50/50 record but we shall see ...

paulisi · Tennis legend

The no adv wasn't particularly an issue today, but I think a third set would be a better option than a MTB, it is now effectively best of two sets with a tie break to determine the winner.

philwrig · Hall of fame

Quite like the MTBs but not good for the nerves, having endured a few nail biters this week !! Agree should ditch the deciding points.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

paulisi wrote:
The no adv wasn't particularly an issue today, but I think a third set would be a better option than a MTB, it is now effectively best of two sets with a tie break to determine the winner.

That's exactly what it is.

But it's the same as having a third set tie-break. i.e. both just come down to a tie-break - the match is exactly equal, win the tie-break and you win the match, lose it and you lose.

I like MTBs. They're a skill, to an extent, like regular tie-breaks. Most coaches (singles and doubles) spend a lot of time on tie-break practice. But at the end of the day they're just tennis points.

I agree with Indy: the no-ad scoring system seems far more at odds with the rest of tennis than a MTB does.

paulisi · Tennis legend

Peter too wrote:
R1: DUNNE, Katy (GBR) 294 def SWAN, Katie (GBR) WC 360 6-4 5-7 6-2
R1: BROADY, Naomi (GBR) 6 115 def RAINA, Ankita (IND) 273 6-3 6-4
R1: DART, Harriet (GBR) 278 lost to FRECH, Magdalena (POL) 7-5 3-6 3-6
R1: WEBLEY-SMITH, Emily (GBR) LL 527 v DIYAS, Zarina (KAZ) 207 4-6 1-6
R1: APPLETON, Emily (GBR) WC 884 lost to HEISEN, Vivian (GER) Q 543 6-3 6-7(4) 2-6
R1: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) WC 252 def MURRAY, Samantha (GBR) Q 661 6-4 3-6 6-3
R1: TAYLOR, Gabriella (GBR) 307 def KERKHOVE, Lesley (NED) 192 6-4 6-3

R2: DUNNE, Katy (GBR) 294 v CHANG, Kai-Chen (TPE) 1 109 CH=82 2010
R2: BROADY, Naomi (GBR) 6 115 v SANCHEZ, Maria (USA) Q 430 CH=107 2013 H2H 0-1
Lexington 2015 4-6 2-6
R2: BOULTER, Katie (GBR) WC 252 v KRUNIC, Aleksandra (SRB) 7 101 CH=62 20/7/15
R2: TAYLOR, Gabriella (GBR) 307 v ZANEVSKA, Maryna (BEL) 2 121 CH=107 2013

-- Edited by Peter too on Thursday 15th of June 2017 04:30:33 AM

Back again today - predicting two GB singles winners. Katie B will lose in straight sets. Naomi should win. Katy D and Gabbi have decent chances.

Just two girls in the top 25, I've never seen live. Jo Konta(kept clashing at Birmingham) and Eden Silva who I had to go early many years ago at Wrexham and missed her.

the addict · Tennis legend

Katy D on court - live stream available
www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-trophy-series/aegon-manchester-trophy/live-stream/

Looks like there's a gusty breeze, the camera is shaking about !

-- Edited by the addict on Thursday 15th of June 2017 10:33:55 AM

the addict · Tennis legend

Katy levels the match after just missing out on several chances. 3-6 6-4 *0-0
Thought she was going to be in trouble after the first few games, but really even match now