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[FINAL] [FINAL 2005] [SEMIS] [QUARTERS] [Round TWO] [Round ONE] [Qualifying] [ROUNDUP] |
Day ONE, Mon 18th April, QUALIFYING:
[2] Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt
Charlie De Rycke (Bel)
9/7, 9/1, 9/4 (27m)
plays Tania Bailey
[8] Eman El Amir (Egy)
bt Olga Puidgemont Sola (Esp)
9/0, 9 6, 4/9, 9/6 (44m)
plays Isabelle Stoehr
[5] Amelia Pittock (Aus) bt Line Hansen (Den)
9/0, 9/2, 9/5 (27m) plays
Annelize Naude
[7] Becky Botwright (Eng) bt Kasey Brown (Aus)
7/9, 3/9, 9/1, 9/5, 9/5 (77m)
plays Fiona Geaves
[5] Melissa Martin (Aus) bt Manuela Manetta (Ita)
3/9, 9/4, 7/9, 9/2, 10/8 (77m)
plays Natalie Grainger
[3] Dom. Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt Karen Kronemeyer (Ned)
9/1, 9/6, 9/3 (35m) plays
Jenny Duncalf
[6] Runa Reta (Can) bye plays Linda Elriani
[1] Tegwen Malik (Wal) bt Suzie Pierrepoint (Eng)
9/7, 9/1, 9/4 (28m)
plays Rachael Grinham
Framboise reports on Day One In
Doha ... |
FULL DRAW |
 NEW
FACES… I’M LEARNING…
The same way I learned about men’s circuit, I’m learning about Ladies.
New names, new faces… And I have to say I was quite impressed. The
level of play in those qualifiers was quite remarkable, and would have
not looked out of place in the quarters of any reputable tournament.
I saw two matches from beginning to end, Olga Puigdemont vs Eman El
Amir, then on the same court Rebecca Botwright vs Kasey Brown,
and the last game of the titanic battle between Melissa Martin and
Manuela Manetta on the other court.
Out of those six players, five of them were new to me (apart from
Becky…), and I liked what I saw… |
OLGA: A GOOD
FIGHTER…
Eman El Amir (Egy) bt Olga Puidgemont (Esp)
9/0, 9 6, 4/9, 9/6 (44m)
Olga Puigdemont is a powerful player. She is rather tall, dark
curly hair, she hits hard and runs pretty well, with good retrieving
skills. Eman El Amir is “famous” probably for the wrong reason,
as she plays with her chador, the traditional veil, long tee-shirt and
tracksuit bottoms, and has caused a lot of comments. Should she?
Shouldn’t she?
Who cares…
 She
is a typical splendid Egyptian player. Her movement is fluid, natural,
precise. She doesn’t hit that hard, but in the right place, her backhand
drive is regularly digging rails into the wall. Her weakest point? I
would say her focus. She can lose her concentration quite rapidly.
For example, she was perfectly in control of the match for two and a
half games, even if Olga started to play with more confidence in the
second (the first couldn’t have been worse mind you, 9/0!). She was up
4/0 in the third… and never scored another point in that game! Just
snapped.
On the other hand, Olga is a fighter, let me tell you. Even down 0/2,
she never let go, and fought for every point. She never gave me the
sensation that she thought the match was lost. And that’s an
essential quality if you want to break on the circuit…
In the third, Olga was able to show us what she is capable of. She got
in front, hit perfect cross courts, good lengths, nice drop shots, and
kept her head. But in the fourth game, she simply ran out of gas at 5/5.
And suddenly, in a few seconds, short rallies and some mistakes from the
Spaniard, we were at match ball 8/5 for Eman, who couldn’t capitalise
the first time and needed a second one to win the match 9/6 in 44
minutes.
A very good encounter indeed… |
"In
the first game, she moved me around, because my length wasn’t good
enough. In the second, I started putting more weight on the ball, and
put more pressure on her in the back corners, and she started to make
mistakes. In the fourth, I tried to apply the same tactics, but at the
end, I just got tired…
"For two months now, I’ve been training with Jean-Michel Arcucci in
Aix-en-Provence, and he has changed my whole movement pattern. I also
train with Samir Khan, and I feel that my game has improved. Even if I
still lose matches, I’m much happier with my game, and I feel I’m on the
right tracks…"
Olga Puidgemont |
|
 "In
the first game, I was very concentrated, and also at the start of the
second, but during that second game, I started to lose my game. In
the third, I was all over the place, I started to make a lot of errors,
and she was very concentrated.
"In the fourth, she was making very few errors, returning everything. So
I started to volley as much as I could, I kept on pushing her to the
back, and then brought her to the front.
"I’m not too happy with my concentration, I seemed to slip in and out of
it too much during the game. I would have liked to play less mistakes,
i.e. not going for so many shots…"
Eman El Amir |
|
BECKY: I’M NOT LOSING TODAY…
Becky Botwright (Eng) bt Kasey Brown (Aus)
7/9, 3/9, 9/1, 9/5, 9/5 (77m)
Must be something Mrs Botwright gave her daughters in the bottle
as they were babies, as both sisters have in common not only a stunning
figure, but also some fantastic fighting spirit… And Rebecca
showed a pretty good display of it today in front of the very
threatening Australian Kasey Brown.
 I must
say it was the kind of match you can’t get away from. Both girls were
playing a similar game, a “I hit, I run, try and catch me…” kind of
game. Very technical indeed, with straight drive rallies that would have
delighted Malcolm Willstrop, perfect width and length from both girls,
lots of weight on the ball, full throttle, taking no prisoners…
Fitness was the name of the game, as it so often is. Kasey found the
perfect way to play the young English girl, but just couldn’t hold it to
the end.
Kasey won the first two games “easily”, 13 minutes and 10 minutes. Fast
pace, hard hitting, precise, deep. Becky was never in control, always
reacting… Then the Australian lost the third , but don't be fooled by
the score of 9/1: it still lasted 13 minutes, and Kasey burnt a lot of
energy there.
The fourth was crucial in my eyes. To start with, it lasted 21 minutes,
but more importantly, we got stuck at 5/5 forever (8 changes of serve).
That was basically match ball. From a spectator's point of view, it was
obvious that Kasey was more tired than her opponent, and that she was
playing “all or nothing”. She lost the game 9/5…
In the fifth, Becky won six rallies in a row, taking her from 0/3 to
5/3. That was the turning point. The Australian still fought hard, but
was digging deep, whereas we had the feeling that the English had still
plenty left… They gave us a last amazing rally at 7/5, both girls
attacking, great volley drops, impressive retrieving, but a sizzling
cross court ended the Australian’s hopes, giving Becky her only match
ball.
After 77 minutes, Young Botwright was clenching her fist… |
"My
game plan in the first two games was to step up the pace, and play as
quickly as I could. But I put so much energy in the first two that after
that, my legs didn’t feel too good, and I didn’t have that much left
really… The fitness was not there, and there was nothing much I could
do…
"Becky was very consistent, her length in particular was very good all
the way through. On top of that, she moves very quickly… She played very
well really."
Kasey Brown |
|
 "After
losing the second game, Vicky told me to try and relax on court. “You’re
playing her game”, she said, “not yours. You’re two love down, you’ve
got nothing to lose now, just go for it. And she is more tired than you
are…”
"Kasey was in charge of the first two games, so in the third, I tried to
slow down the pace, and tried to make her move around. I had the feeling
that, or I was going to lose 3/0, or I was going to win 3/2….
"In the fifth, I just hung on in there, tried to keep the rallies going,
and was as patient as I could be…"
Becky Botwright |
|
|
MANUELA: SO CLOSE…
Melissa Martin (Aus) bt Manuela Manetta (Ita)
3/9, 9/4, 7/9, 9/2, 10/8 (77m)
Once again, I was discovering the two players on court. The match
between Melissa Martin (married for three years now to Brett, and
who I started by calling Michelle, “no, that’s my sister in law”, good
start, woman, good start…) and Italian Manuela Manetta was one I
ticked to watch.
Unfortunately, the fun between Becky and Kasey lasted a long time, and I
could only catch the last game of this titanic encounter. From the
corner of my eye (and from my left ear, the mixture Australian/Italian
being quite vocal, both girls cursing or encouraging themselves rather
loudly), it was pretty obvious that the match was pretty close and
disputed.
The Italian got the first game, Melissa equalised, the Italian got in
front yet again, and the Australian equalised again. So after roughly an
hour’s play, we were playing a new match, called “the fifth game”.
It was a stunning game. Suspense, great hitting, stunning retrieving,
amazing long rallies, high pace, explosive form, both at the same level
of nervous and physical exhaustion, both digging in. Three match balls
for Manuela, saved by her opponent, who equalised 8/8. A few changes of
serve. Nail biting stuff.
“This could be close,” jokes Andrew Shelley… Funny man…
And suddenly, after one hour and 16 minutes, Melissa gets her first
match ball… that the young Italian will kindly and generously put in the
tin… Heartbreaking...
What a game. Breathtaking. High standard. And what’s it’s all about
really, isn’t it…? |
"That
was a shame, wasn’t it??? I was so close, sooo close! I had what, three
match balls? I arrived only yesterday, so I feel a bit more tired than I
normally do.
"I let her impose her game on me, I wasn’t playing my game, I was
playing hers, and I’m not good at that…
"One good thing though, she is higher ranked than I am, so now I know I
can be close to that kind of ranking, and that, in not too long, I
should be there…"
Manuella Manetta |
|
 "I
was definitely worried when I was match ball down! She was volleying
very well, and returning everything today… But I don’t think I played
badly, I thought I played rather well… It was a tough match.
"Her forehand volleys are really dangerous, and if you play a loose
cross court, she just slams a volley down and wins the point. And also,
she was retrieving very well.
"I would have liked to be more relaxed, I was too anxious. I was trying
to do too much, trying to get in there and hit hard, whereas I just
needed to control the ball. My crosscourts also needed to be wider. But
I was moving well, and thank God for that, otherwise I would have been
in a lot of trouble today…"
Melissa Martin |
|
"I
was a bit nervous, because I never saw her play. I was down 5/1, and
started to get in the match. And from 1/5, I won 9/5. Well, she is very
good in the middle, she volleys very well, and my shots were just too
short. So, once I found my length, I was able to move her…
"I won the second easily, 9/1, she didn’t do too much. By the third
game, I knew how to play her, and kept playing to the back, where she
seems less comfortable…"
Engy Kheirallah |
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) bt
Charlie De Rycke (Bel) 9/7, 9/1, 9/4 (27m)
 "She
made some mistakes in the beginning, and I was happy with my pace. Then
I felt that I was getting lazy… In the second, I made so many mistakes…
In the third, we were quite close for about 10 rallies, and then, I got
tired, started making mistakes again.
"If I could play the game again, I would keep the rallies going, instead
of trying to go for shots, and I would try and not play so many
mistakes…"
Charlie De Rycke |
 "I got
off to a good start, the first game was rather easy, 9/1. In the second,
I was up 6/0, but as we played several rallies of only two or three
shots, I thought she was injured, and my mind started wandering… So I
struggled a bit before regaining control.
"In the last game, I felt a bit lazy, but overall, I felt quite good. I
don’t think our concentration was very good today, we both seemed to
wander around, up and down…"
Dominique Lloyd-Walter |
Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) bt Karen
Kronemeyer (Ned) 9/1, 9/6, 9/3 (35m)
"In the second, I was
trying something new, I was trying to play short, to get her in the
front, to make her move around to the four corners, but it didn’t work
that well..
"She was just too good today, she kept her head, kept her concentration,
stuck in there, and kept going. Even when I was playing winners, she
would still win the rally…"
Karen Kronemeyer |
Tegwen Malik (Wal) bt Suzie Pierrepoint (Eng)
9/7, 9/1, 9/4 (28m)
 "The
pressure was on me in that match, as I was seeded higher than she was,
and you should never underestimate your opponent! I had to stay very
concentrated, because if my length wasn’t perfect, she would put it
away…
"She has got some very good soft backhand drop shots in particular, and
if you play short against her, you’ve got to make sure that she is
really under pressure, otherwise, she’ll just counterdrop and place a
beautiful winner.
"It feels good to be in the main draw of a tournament you know…"
Tegwen Malik |
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