I went to Ilkley today and watched Harriet's game from start to finish.After a poor start,she fought her way back to 4-4 and then came the game which changed the whole match. In the ninth game,Harriet had 4 break points,but each time her opponent produced excellent serves and eventually held her serve. Harriets' next service game wasn't the best but she played well in most of that set. Sakkari's first two service games in the second set were close and hard fought but she upped her game each time and that was the difference. She also stopped querying calls which she had done a number of times in the first set and as a result ,seemed to concentrate better on the task at hand. For me ,there were only two bad calls in the whole match,the second point when Harriets' return was out but given in and the second to last point at thirty all on Harriets' serve,when Sakkari's return was well out but given in. By then,it made no difference. The second set was nowhere near as onesided as the score might suggest and Harriet should not be too downhearted about her performance.

I also watched the first set of Freya Christies' match against Petkovic. I thought she played very well in patches but was too inconsistent against a much higher ranked player. There were plenty of long rallies but most of them were won by Petkovic who was far steadier with a better defence. The one thing I didn't understand was why a number of people[not Petkovics' main backers] who sounded as English as me were not supporting the English player. Petkovic was very vociferous about a few calls particularly one near the end of that was miles out. One of her supporters was adamant it was in [which it wasn't] and was even less impressed when I suggested that that was why she wore glasses. After the first set ,I flitted mainly between Marcus and Jays matches as well as seeing one or two other games on other courts.

Nix wrote:

---

It is a bit weird, I have to agree. Not so blatant at Surbiton, but there wasn't an obviously loud support for the British players from the (from their accents) British crowd, either. People looked at me a bit strangely when I called out at beginning/end of games or points for our player (not at inappropriate moments!). Not sure if it's a curious British sense of fair play??? Certainly felt much more comfortable being vocal at the US Open, even when supporting a Brit against a US player, just because there was generally more cheering/support. And yes I know it's a much bigger event, but equally I've heard a lot of noise for home players on streamed US challenger events too.

One thing that I also thought was a bit of a shame was that even though the British players were lovely, talking to fans and signing autographs for ages after matches, none that I saw acknowledged the crowd when walking onto the court. I understand they might have been trying to concentrate, but I really think a big wave would have helped get the atmosphere going.

---

 Well, I guess the two go together a bit, if the player doesn't actually know what sort of reception they will get... It seems very strange, since for instance at a tournament like Wimbledon, there the Brit players will get well supported...