I was lucky enough to be there yesterday and got back quite late, a lot later than I expected.

Before I say anything about the tennis, if anyone read this and you are going today the doors only opened 1 hour before yesterday and the queue to get in was pretty slow and we had to wait in the rain for quite a while. I'd been to the Commonwealth Games at the same venue and the organisation this time seemed to be not that good. So try to get there as early as you can if you want to sample the pre tennis atmosphere.
The food choices in the venue are terrible if you are vegetarian or vegan and very limited and expensive otherwise. Also if you are tall you're going to be in for a cramped time leg-wise.

The tennis was just so dramatic and exhilarating even though we lost both matches. Katie played at a level I just didn't think she had right now. Even though Garcia was perhaps a little below her top level it really came down to just a few key moments though I thought Garcia really played those moments better and for the last 20 minutes Katie was hanging on but not making much impression on Garcia's serve so when it came to the final tie break I thought it likely Garcia would win as over the course of those last few games she seemed to be winning a greater proportion of the points and Katie seemed to be tiring just a little. At 3 hours 26 minutes I'm sure that is the longest women's tennis match I've witnessed live and will surely be one of the best matches of this year's BJK Cup. A privilege to have been there.

In some ways Harriet's match was the more frustrating. For as well as Katie played I never really felt she was going to win. Harriet on the other hand played well enough at times to really trouble Cornet and I felt she was doing enough to have won that match. Again it came down to a few points here and there that didn't go Harriet's way. To me it was clear we were seeing a player low on confidence and not used to winning a lot of matches lately. Whilst she was pumped up and positive at times at others she seemed quite down on herself. Some of the rallies were very good but the big issue for Harriet is her serve. The 1st serve is ok but she is rolling in the 2nd at 70-75 MPH and not doing anything with it. There's not kick or spin and it just sits there asking to be pummeled back which it generally was and though she did win points behind it she was always under pressure. With a better serve she would have won the first set and the match may have been different.

Both GB women did themselves proud and I guess it will have been a bit of a somber camp last night. It is hard to see past a French win and whether they play the final two matches I don't know.