Final game to love and just a cool hand shake at the end of that 3hr 23 mins marathon. It was some match, very high quality tennis, even better than Katie S's match yesterday. Katie B deserves huge credit for hanging in there. Psychologically I still see that first set 9th game as the turning point. Katie still lost the set after winning that game.. but I think it taught her she could win the hard battles by just hanging in there... And all that game took out of Ula I think paid off in the final set when Ula was definitely the wearier and more likely to succumb in the longer rallies, whilst in the first set, it was Ula's heavy hitting that was more likely to win out in the extended rallies.
A great win for Katie, and a huge relief too to reach the end of that one...
The battle for the GBR #4 position is really heating up now too. Katie's extra 20 pts for the win (50 in all), will take her to 333 points next week. Gabi has 341 pts. They are both entered for Japan and are likely to start the week as WR 171 and 172 respectively, although this week's Quanzhou 60k event could affect their final ranking positions.
With Naomi, Laura, Katy D, and Harriet all also currently in the MD, it will be all eyes on Gifu next week
Katie's fourth career pro singles title, and biggest; all the others were $10/15K (that holds true even including doubles). Her firist on a surface other than haered courts. She has now won a singles title in each of the last three consecutive years. It is her eighth pro title overall.
Edit: add 'singles' to line 1
-- Edited by blob on Monday 23rd of April 2018 03:37:32 PM
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Data I post, opinions I offer, 'facts' I assert, are almost certainly all stupidly wrong.
Well, that was a rollercoaster ride! What a match and brilliant performance! Boulder really showed strong character to come back and clinch that. Wasn't sure how she would recover after being broken immediately after *that* 3-5 game.
Cannot wait for Gifu! Hope one of the ladies goes on to win the title there (if they all play!).
Also, amazing news from Nicholls and Grey. Definitely earning a Wimbledon wild card for me. Consistent over the years and this run of form from ON is frightening!
Well, that was a rollercoaster ride! What a match and brilliant performance! Boulder really showed strong character to come back and clinch that. Wasn't sure how she would recover after being broken immediately after *that* 3-5 game.
Cannot wait for Gifu! Hope one of the ladies goes on to win the title there (if they all play!).
Also, amazing news from Nicholls and Grey. Definitely earning a Wimbledon wild card for me. Consistent over the years and this run of form from ON is frightening!