British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

Andy Parker · Club Coach

Week 43 - ITF W35 Brisbane, Australia - Hard

emmsie69 · Masters Series Champion

Andy Parker wrote:
After a nightmare start, Katie came through in her semi final against Taylah Preston - 0-6 6-4 6-2. She got an early break in the second set and then it went with serve after that and took control early in the 3rd, taking a 4-0 lead - the last service game was a bit of a struggle and lasted ages, but all in all, a very good performance that kept me up late - match finished at just after 4 am.

Great news to wake up to. I was reasonably confident that she would win this one after a couple of weeks off.

B00thy · Club Coach

Yes, Great news to wake up to

Sounds like a tremendous performance from Katie.

Interested in knowing what happened in that first set

the addict · Tennis legend

Another good win from Katie - if a bit of a struggle, although it was never going to be easy.

SF:- Katie Swan (GBR) WR348 [4] def Taylah Preston (AUS) WR203 [2] 0-6 6-4 6-2

*****

F:- Katie Swan (GBR) WR348 [4] v Fangran Tian (CHN) WR436 [7]

foobarbaz · Club Coach

B00thy wrote:
Yes, Great news to wake up to

Sounds like a tremendous performance from Katie.

Interested in knowing what happened in that first set

This was a proper shoot out, the players were absolutely dialed-in and no quarter was given. However, the Aussie, Taylah Preston was playing stunning aggressive tennis right from the get-go, hit the ball so aggressively and slamming down first serves one after another. Swan narrowly lost her first service game and was under severe pressure, and then as it was clear the 1st set was a gonner, Swan's game went awry, and Preston ran away with the score. It looked like it might be a bad day at the office, but then logic said don't panic, reset for the next set. Swan dug in, and got on the scoreboard for the first time in the match breaking Preston's serve, slowing the match down to her pace, and focusing on staying in the rally and matching the aggressive play of her opponent. It was lights-out tennis from both of them. A hard-fought service hold, and the confidence started to come back into Swan's game. At 4-2 in the 2nd, Katie was beginning to serve better, hit the ball harder, make fewer mistakes, and the match was beginning to turn. Preston began to make a few errors and her booming serve became a bit erratic. The 2nd set was won, and the mad pressure of the 1st set was a distant memory. The third set ensued, and Swan was the one in control, with Preston throwing in DF's at critical moments and hitting long in desperation that her aggressive game plan was now her undoing. Katie had withstood the onslaught, and had found another gear and was playing effective winning tennis. Very impressive.

DF · Tennis legend

foobarbaz wrote:
B00thy wrote:
Yes, Great news to wake up to

Sounds like a tremendous performance from Katie.

Interested in knowing what happened in that first set
This was a proper shoot out, the players were absolutely dialed-in and no quarter was given. However, the Aussie, Taylah Preston was playing stunning aggressive tennis right from the get-go, hit the ball so aggressively and slamming down first serves one after another. Swan narrowly lost her first service game and was under severe pressure, and then as it was clear the 1st set was a gonner, Swan's game went awry, and Preston ran away with the score. It looked like it might be a bad day at the office, but then logic said don't panic, reset for the next set. Swan dug in, and got on the scoreboard for the first time in the match breaking Preston's serve, slowing the match down to her pace, and focusing on staying in the rally and matching the aggressive play of her opponent. It was lights-out tennis from both of them. A hard-fought service hold, and the confidence started to come back into Swan's game. At 4-2 in the 2nd, Katie was beginning to serve better, hit the ball harder, make fewer mistakes, and the match was beginning to turn. Preston began to make a few errors and her booming serve became a bit erratic. The 2nd set was won, and the mad pressure of the 1st set was a distant memory. The third set ensued, and Swan was the one in control, with Preston throwing in DF's at critical moments and hitting long in desperation that her aggressive game plan was now her undoing. Katie had withstood the onslaught, and had found another gear and was playing effective winning tennis. Very impressive.

Thanks Foobarbaz

foobarbaz · Club Coach

You're welcome DF. Another thing that occurred to me whilst the first set was unraveling, is that the stadium court is absolutely ginormous, and eerie too with no spectators in the camera's field of view. The silence is deafening. Preston played her quarterfinal on it, while Swan played on Court 2, a more cosy experience. Yes, it's the same for both players, but Swan had the greater adjustment to make at the start of the match, and as we all know tennis is a game of fine margins.