I wondered if Emily might pop up here this week in the doubles, frustrated at being denied an SE into Korea, and she has. Rutuja, her doubles partner from last week must already have been taken, so Emily has another new partner again this week
R16: Emily Webley-Smith/ Kwan Yau Ng (GBR/HKG) 1129 (229+900) vs Jiahui Chen. Ying Zhang (CHN/CHN) 1194 (603+591)
Yeah, can only assume with such a last minute decision other pairings had been agreed. Not sure indoor clay plus a scratch partner ranked 900 is a recipe for success but another adventure!
Yes, and I'm sorry she couldn't have played with Rutuja again, as thing they could have had a good go here. Still as Paul says, this is another adventure for her, and I'm sure a good experience for Kwan Yau too!
That was a really good match, much tighter than I expected. A screamer of a return at *8-8 gave the Chinese a match point which they missed with a howler, but they took their third.
She'll be mad given how close it was but in the circumstances that left her playing here no shame at all.
Damn, that was sooooooo close, and considering it was a scratch pair, I'm sure it would have afforded both of them huge satisfaction if they could have squeezed through that one. As you say, Paul, no shame... but so annoyingly close to a wonderful win.