25K Prerov (Cze) Week 46

johnnylad · Tennis legend

25K Prerov (Cze) Week 46

Sheddie · administrator

Unfortunately Sarah pulled out

Anne is seeded 5th and Amanda also has a nice draw.

Rd1:

A Keen [GB] v A Sevastova [Lat][q]

A Keothavong [GB][5] v M Rybarikova [Svk][WC]

Amanda's opponent is just 16 and already ranked 532 ! The qualifying here was Sevastova's first tournament since August. In August she won two 10Ks back to back on clay and she also reached a 10K final in July on clay. Amanda's great game for fast indoor courts should prove too strong though.

Anne's opponent is 18, very good looking and ranked 330. Rybarikova reached 220 earlier this year. However, she hasn't won a main draw match since May. She's at her best on clay, qualifying for WTA Istanbul earlier this year and reaching the quarters of WTA Prague as a wildcard. She can be effective indoors though, made a 25K semi on indoor carpet in Italy in February

jamatthews · Strong Club Player

Keen def Sevastova 7-6(3) 6-3 and faces Ivanova
Keothavong def Rybarikova 6-1 6-0 and faces Grebenyuk

johnnylad · Tennis legend

jamatthews wrote:

Keen def Sevastova 7-6(3) 6-3 and faces Ivanova
Keothavong def Rybarikova 6-1 6-0 and faces Grebenyuk

Another virtual walkover for Anne, and a good win for Amanda against a qualifier, obviously at home on the surface!

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Ivanova is ranked 191 which is 3 spots off her highest ranking achieved last month. She made the QF's in Opole last week. They haven't played before.

Grebenyuk is an 18 year old russian hottie with a current career high ranking of 315. She won the Podolsk challenger in Russia at the end of October, made the QF's in Minsk, and qualified here in Prerov only losing 8 games. She made 30 in the junior rankings when she was 16, but seems to have concentrated on seniors since. They have never played before...

Sheddie · administrator

jamatthews wrote:

Keen def Sevastova 7-6(3) 6-3 and faces Ivanova
Keothavong def Rybarikova 6-1 6-0 and faces Grebenyuk

Wow !!! What a win for Anne

Looking at the stats Rybarikova is definately something of a rising star, Anne must have hit top form here.

Great win for Amanda aswell, the next match sounds like it'll be tricky but on fast indoor carpet Amanda can beat anyone outside the top 50 on her day.

Hopefully Anne can continue defeating the hotties

I'd have more mixed feelings about it if this tournament had a website equipped with large photo gallery

This is Miss Grebenyuk:

Talk about from Russia with love !

Why are so, so many of the Russian players incredibly hot !

-- Edited by ultimateshedman at 22:43, 2006-11-15

jamatthews · Strong Club Player

Keen def Ivanova 6-2 6-2 and now faces Rodina
Keothavong def Grebenyuk 6-3 7-5 and faces Frankova

Happycynic · Pro player

R2

Keen def 8 Ivanova (Rus, 191) 6-2 6-2

5 Keothavong def Grebenyuk (Rus, 315) 6-3 7-5

Next up:

QF:

Amanda vs Evgeniya RODINA (RUS, 233) A 17 year old; in R1 defeated number 1 seed, WR80, in comfortable straights 6-4 6-2. Could be very tough.

Anne vs Nikola FRANKOVA (CZE, 415). An 18 year old.

steven · Tennis legend

ultimateshedman wrote:

This is Miss Grebenyuk:

Hmm, she'd make a good shot-putter, don't you think?

johnnylad · Tennis legend

Happycynic wrote:

R2

Keen def 8 Ivanova (Rus, 191) 6-2 6-2
5 Keothavong def Grebenyuk (Rus, 315) 6-3 7-5

Next up:

QF:

Amanda vs Evgeniya RODINA (RUS, 233) A 17 year old; in R1 defeated number 1 seed, WR80, in comfortable straights 6-4 6-2. Could be very tough.

Anne vs Nikola FRANKOVA (CZE, 415). An 18 year old.

Really encouraging showing this week. Lets hope they can keep pushing on!

Sheddie · administrator

Happycynic wrote:

R2

Keen def 8 Ivanova (Rus, 191) 6-2 6-2
5 Keothavong def Grebenyuk (Rus, 315) 6-3 7-5

Next up:

QF:

Amanda vs Evgeniya RODINA (RUS, 233) A 17 year old; in R1 defeated number 1 seed, WR80, in comfortable straights 6-4 6-2. Could be very tough.

Anne vs Nikola FRANKOVA (CZE, 415). An 18 year old.

Great wins !

That's Amanda's 3rd win over someone in the top 200 since she returned to action this year. She beat Alberta Brianti [wr: 106] in Felixstowe and Greta Arn [wr: 186] in May in Spain.

Rodina looks remarkably similar to Safina, don't you think ? She's currently ranked 36 in juniors but hasn't been concentrating on the junior circuit since 2004 when she made her career best ranking of 23. She made rd3 of junior Wimbledon this year, took a set off the eventual champion Wozniacki. Given her recent results on the senior circuit, I don't really fancy Amanda's chances - Rodina won a 25K in Minsk last week - beating Nastya P in straights in the final

She won another 25K in August and has also made 50K and 75K quarters this year. However, she won't have come up against many players with Amanda's game style in the past so maybe that'll give Amanda a chance.

Anne faces her first non-hottie of the competition, hopefully it isn't a bad omen. Her opponent reached no 12 in the juniors in 2005, but her results this year haven't been anything special. This is the first tournament in which she's gone past rd2 of a 25K in 2006. She was beaten in straights by Natasha Khan recently.

Sheddie · administrator

Anne's into the semis. She won 6-2, 6-2

Plays the winner of Amanda and Rodina

johnnylad · Tennis legend

ultimateshedman wrote:

Anne's into the semis. She won 6-2, 6-2

Plays the winner of Amanda and Rodina

Nice one Anne!!!!!! Lets hope Amanda can match it and then play off for the finals spot!!

Sheddie · administrator

Anne will play Rodina in the semis.

Rodina beat Amanda 7-6, 6-1 today

Keothavong said she is feeling confident ahead of her semi-final after a good week on the Zubr Cup's fast indoor courts.

“I played well,” Keothavong said. “My opponent came through qualies and has been playing well this week so I was pleased with the win.

“She has a massive serve – one of the biggest serves I’ve seen in the women’s game – so I knew that returning would be the key and I served and returned really well.

“The courts here are lightning fast – they’re supreme courts that should have been resurfaced a while ago so they’re very quick.

“But I’ve been serving well all week – I think I’ve only dropped serve once so far – so if I can keep doing that I feel I can keep going.”

Sheddie · administrator

Sounds very promising that Anne returned and served so well

How do we reckon she'll do against Rodina ? I'm not sure what to predict with that one, Rodina's playing like a top 150 player this week.

Jamatthews reckons that if Anne wins she'll make top 150. If Amanda had beaten Rodina she'd have secured a place in AO qualies. Next week is a 75K in France, if Amanda can qualify there and win a round, I think that'll ensure that she makes the cut. It'll be tough though, the main draw cut off is 144