British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

B00thy · Club Coach

Week 31 - W75 Lexington, USA

Andy Parker · Club Coach

One set all - 6-4 to Katie - everything went with serve after the initial three games. The next set will be interesting - a close one, this.

Andy Parker · Club Coach

B00thy wrote:
Katie wins 2nd set 6-4

I think you must type quicker than me - Ill leave you to do the score updates from here!

B00thy · Club Coach

indiana wrote:
I'd say the courts are actually at least 9 feet apart, i.e. twice the tramlines width or the tramlines are the wrong size and the ball boys are midgets

Still pretty close but not absolutely ridiculous.

The proximity looks similar to the park courts I played as a youngster and the ball kid on the next court stands closer to 'our' court so as to be ready to collect the ball which ever side they need to. So they're moving around at times when 'our' point is active. It must be distracting for the player.

B00thy · Club Coach

Katie's serving this end and it is evident she cannot fully flex her back

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Arconada won the 3rd set 6-2. The first five games were close and went with serve, but then Katie threw in a stinker of a service game to be broken and go 2-4 down, and she never really recovered from that. The mitigating factors were not only having to play 2 matches in one day, but that she did have some problems with her back, which were limiting her mobility. I just hope it is nothing serious. Arconada looked a good opponent though - she has been around a few years and this was a tough test for Katie, and I don't think, given the minor injury niggles and 2 matches in one day, that she should be too disheartened by this result.

-- Edited by Andy Parker on Wednesday 30th of July 2025 01:07:44 AM

Blue_Belle · County player

B00thy wrote:
This is only close because of Katie's lack of freedom in lower back though. If it frees up enough she will come back

Is this the same issue as previously or a different one?

B00thy · Club Coach

It's difficult to be certain and maybe we'll see if she says anything publicly. To me it just looked like she was stiff and trying to stretch out - stretching her back (touching toes and holding position), backs and fronts of thighs, that kind of thing. Maybe the consequence of playing twice in a day. Arconada looked pretty good, but Katie was hampered right from the start and I think that had she not been stiff a straight sets win would have been the likely outcome.

Andy Parker · Club Coach

B00thy wrote:
It's difficult to be certain and maybe we'll see if she says anything publicly. To me it just looked like she was stiff and trying to stretch out - stretching her back (touching toes and holding position), backs and fronts of thighs, that kind of thing. Maybe the consequence of playing twice in a day. Arconada looked pretty good, but Katie was hampered right from the start and I think that had she not been stiff a straight sets win would have been the likely outcome.

That's spot on - she was stretching downwards to touch her toes, as if it was a minor niggle and that would prevent any pain - to keep doing that would strongly suggest lower or middle back pain, rather than any upper back injury. At the end after she went 2-4 down, she was doing lots of stretches in between points, and it felt genuine, rather than some kind of theatrical response to being in a losing position. I say that because I've seen quite a few players appear to feign injuries, when they know they are going to lose, presumably as some kind of defence mechanism, to given them some kind of excuse for a poor pefrormance. In Katie's case, she was doing it throughout the whole match, even when things were going well.