I remember watching Katy at Bournemouth when she was only 14 and being impressed then. She was a real fighter so I wouldn't write her off yet, though she would need a lot to get back with her opponent giving little away.

Sorry to see Katy lose but it was a tough ask.

This, though, is why WCs can be wonderful ... not to mention streaming (hint, hint LTA). What an opportunity for Ms Dunne to show her gifts on the broader stage - and for people who don't normally get to see her (or other women players, as there's no equivalent of the Challenger Live Stream) to watch her play. Hurrah for Ms Dunne for using the opportunity well. And thank you, Wimbledon, for the streaming.

Sounds a pretty good performance that against a really good player to come across at qualifying. Thanks for all the reports.

Should take Katy ( CH 265 ) back up to about WR 270. For getting on to 3 years now her ranking has basically been in a band about 40 places either side of WR 300. Would be great if she could really push beyond that towards the top 200.

At her best she looks very capable of this, but then I am sure that could be said of many players of similar ranking. The trick is to bring that best or near best to the table on a consistent basis, while of course also hopefully improving that best.

I disagree Scottie.  I'd have said you were right last year, but today she matched Van U for much of the match.  She started very nervously, looked sooo tight, slow to react and barely got a racquet on the ball but once she'd managed to get that first game on the board she played well with really big flat groundstrokes that frequently beat Van U, good slice and the occasional sharp angle.  Serve was a bit on the weak side but I suspect she is working on that as she had a touch of the Laura's - throwing up and catching.   But, when she had a chance to go ahead, the pace dropped off her groundstrokes and they were so short.  Second set she was playing top tennis, although wobbled towards the end   But again serving at the start of the third, no pace or length on the groundstrokes and didn't really pick things up until 4-0 down.  She needs to believe that when she is ahead it's because she deserves to be, not because she is lucky and needs to protect her lead by being extra careful.  If she can sort out her head / confidence, I really do think she has the tennis to move on up a fair bit.

The Optimist wrote:

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I disagree Scottie.  I'd have said you were right last year, but today she matched Van U for much of the match.  She started very nervously, looked sooo tight, slow to react and barely got a racquet on the ball but once she'd managed to get that first game on the board she played well with really big flat groundstrokes that frequently beat Van U, good slice and the occasional sharp angle.  Serve was a bit on the weak side but I suspect she is working on that as she had a touch of the Laura's - throwing up and catching.   But, when she had a chance to go ahead, the pace dropped off her groundstrokes and they were so short.  Second set she was playing top tennis, although wobbled towards the end   But again serving at the start of the third, no pace or length on the groundstrokes and didn't really pick things up until 4-0 down.  She needs to believe that when she is ahead it's because she deserves to be, not because she is lucky and needs to protect her lead by being extra careful.  If she can sort out her head / confidence, I really do think she has the tennis to move on up a fair bit.

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 I watched this match and agree. K didn't have the rub of the green which might have influenced things a little

Katy's clearly on the up now, much stronger mentally it looks to me. Shame about her 1st serve, which I still think was better a couple of years ago, but the rest of the game is looking much much better. AVU's form really dipped in the 2nd, but overall top 200 should be the bare minimum going forward.