The entry list is really strong here. 5 top 100 players and the cut is 144.
It's stronger than some tier 4s.
Anne and Amanda are both entered for qualifying which starts on Sunday. Anne is no 3 on the qualies list so has a chance of getting into the main draw via withdrawals. Amanda is 13th on the list.
Good news is that as this is a French tournament we'll get full stats on the matches
This is the last event of the year for Anne, the penultimate one for Amanda [I think].
Amanda's playing qualies for a 50K+H challenger in Milan a week later. That'll be her last event unless she plays the 25K in the Czech Republic in the 2nd week of December.
jamatthews wrote: I expect Anne will play Dubai again. I could be wrong though.
Was Dubai at a different place in the calendar last year ?
It would be a strange decision as she'd be going all the way over there for just 1 tournament unless she plans to spend the off season training in hot climes in preparation for Oz. There's no tournament for 2 weeks after Dubai. However, it might explain why she's given Milan a miss
It's the same spot in the Calender I think. Doesn't offer hospitality this year, so I don't know if that will change her decision. Bergamo was the same week last year, but it seems to have been moved 2 weeks forward and changed to Milan this year.
Yeah, it was in the same place in the calendar last year, just checked. Anne lost to Bondarenko in rd1 - 6-3, 7-5. Looks like she didn't have much of an off season break and maybe used Dubai as a training base to prepare for the opening events of 2007, down under. Having started 2005 in March due to injury, maybe she didn't feel the need for a break in December. Might be different this year as she's been playing week in, week out since the beginning of Jan.
Bad news from the qualifying, Amanda was seeded 4 but lost in rd1 to Germany's Sabrina Jolk [wr:465] - 7-6[2], 3-6, 6-1
Amanda hit 11 aces, Jolk hit 8. Amanda served at 57%, Jolk at 61%. Amanda won 33/54 pts on 1st serve and only 18/41 on 2nd serve. Jolk won 34/57 on 1st serve and crucially 25/37 on 2nd serve.
Amanda had 6 bps and took 3, Jolk had 11 bps and took 4.
Anne plays Russian 4th seed Ekaterina Bychkova in rd1. Bychkova is ranked 72 [peaked at 66 in February]. Her 2006 highlights have been....reaching the quarters of WTA Gold Coast at the start of the year, winning rd1 matches in 3 of the 4 slams, winning a 50K+H in Marseille, winning rounds in several WTAs including Indian Wells. She lost in rd1 of a 50K last week.
