http://i16.tinypic.com/68bvuyh.jpg

Welcome to 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands for the Ordina Open

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/global/graphics/logos/shertogenbosch.jpg

This is the first Grass Tournament of the year and its a Tier III so who will stamp their authority on this surface?

This tournament is limited to 8 entries with 4 needed to go ahead. If we get less than four entries then this tournament will be cancelled which would be a shame. Entires close Thursday morning.

The deadline for points is Thursday 18:00 GMT but if everyone sends points earlier then the tournament may start earlier.

No Doublesand Good Luck to everyone competing!

Entry List

[1] China - Jie Zheng (almost confirmed but still considering)
[2] Peurto Rico - Vilmarie Castellvi
Belarus - Vika Azarenka
Canada - Ekaterina Shulaeva
Russia - Nadia Petrova
Georgia - Ekaterine Gorgodze

2 Places available here!!

Reserved

You can commit now - Doubles will not be this week. I have had a PM from Jeronimo he hopes they will start again week starting 24th ;)

China:Jie Zheng ;)(almost confirmed but still considering.;))

PUR: Vilmarie Castellvi

Canada is in!
I'll choose my players in some minutes

canada: Ekaterina Shulaeva

Belarus: Azarenka

I hope the most teams we have here will be 7,so China would get a bye to the semis again.:lol: :p

Entry List so far gone up

Still 4 places available and 48 hours to commit.

As we have 4 countries this tournament will defently go ahead but if we get no more I may change the format to somthing like every plays each other sort of thing ;) but thats just a suggestion :p

Keep Commiting :bounce:

^^^Yeah.That's a good idea too!:) Perhaps you'll do it if there's only 4 or 5 teams commit here.;)
China hopes to win one match at least as the possible top seed of the tournament.:o

Georgia will play here :)

Player Ekaterine Gorgodze

Russia ;)

Nadia Petrova :armed:

This tournament will be like a Round Robin


Red Group

[1] China - Jie Zheng
Belarus - Vika Azarenka
Russia - Nadia Petrova

Blue Group

[2] Peurto Rico - Vilmarie Castellvi
Canada - Ekaterina Shulaeva
Georgia - Ekaterine Gorgodze

Red Group OOP

[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. RUS Nadia Petrova

BLR Vika Azarenka vs. RUS Nadia Petrova

[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. BLR Vika Azarenka


Blue Group OOP

[2] PUR Vilmarie Castellvi vs. CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva

GEO Ekaterine Gorgodze vs. [2] PUR Vilmarie Castellvi

CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva vs. GEO Ekaterine Gorgodze


Schedule:

Thursday and Friday - Group Stages

Weekend - Semi and Final*

Please get your points sent:

Bonus Points:

China - Article + Bangkok Winner - 20pts

How about here?Will the event start today?
And you haven't answered my PM,Patch.:wavey:

^^This MAY start today ;)

In 10-15mins

Red Group
[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. RUS Nadia Petrova

Possibly
RUS Nadia Petrova vs. BLR Vika Azanreka


Blue Group
CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva vs. [2] PUR Vilmarie Castellvi

[2] PUR Vilmarie Castellvi vs. GEO Ekaterine Gorgodze

Red Group

[1] CHN Jie Zheng def. RUS Nadia Petrova 4-6 6-3 6-2

http://en.ce.cn/subject/doha2006/china/200612/14/W020061214420091160843.jpg

:bigclap: Good start to the Chinese Grass Campagin but all credit to Russia who played a great match despite little points :yeah:

Blue Group

CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva def. [2] PUR Vilmarie Castellvi 7-6(2) 6-4

http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/image/gallery/IO_21376_gallery.JPG(is that Ekaterina???:tape:)

:eek: Great Win for Ekaterina! If Canada continue to play like that they will be a threat ;) Good match from Vilmarie though - youre tactics were just not quite right today :hug:

Blue Group

GEO Ekaterine Gorgodze def. [2] PUR Vilmarie Castellvi 7-6(0) 2-6 6-4

http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/2007/05/23/gpta5.07.jpg

:eek:Great debut for the Gerogians!! They have a very risky stragety but it worked very well in todays match. Sorry for the pic, I coudnt find any Gorgodze pics. Vilmarie :hug: you had very good points but unfortunatly two very good opponents as well :(

Red Group

RUS Nadia Petrova def. BLR Vika Azanreka W/O :o

http://i.eurosport.fr/2006/01/04/236579-981446-317-238.jpg

:shrug: I think Nadia wanted to play today but at least this means she should now go through to the Semi Finals ;)

Todays action completed. Tommorow last group matches and (maybe) the semifinals!

I should have won in two anyway.;)
Nadia :hug: I don't know why you chose to play here but well,good luck.;)

Puerto Rico officially retire....


j/k. That was a true ass whooping! Congrats!

China Wins First Match On Grass

http://www.wtnphotos.com/data/653/21238418559zheng.jpg

The Chinese team went off to a good start on their first grass court event when Jie Zheng defeated newcomer Russia's Nadia Petrova 4-6,6-3,6-2 in their first round robin match in the Netherlands.

"I was not playing that well on the first set,maybe lack of focus on court I believe.Luckily I regrouped myself and win the next two sets.Nadia took her chances well but unfortunately it wasn't enough.She'll be a big threat on other surface but definitely not on this.I hope to play better against Vika tomorrow since she's also a grass court lover."said the Chinese after the match.

China,who won their first title on WTT in last week's Tier III hardcourt event in Bangkok,hopes to continue their good form on grass courts."I believe my girls should do well on this surface since there isn't many teams who have good grass court players.But we'll still be aware with them since surprises will happen when you didn't expect it."commented the team's Manager.

Puerto Rican Vilmarie Castellvi ousted from Ordina Open Round Robin

http://www.tennis.info/images/US4/01Fri/Castellvi2453.jpg

Coming off of two straight semifinals, the Puerto Ricans were clear favorites to make a run here at the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch. However, the second seeded country, represented by Vilmarie Castellvi, was dismantled in the early round robin stages of the tournament. The following is an excerpt of the Press Conference that later followed:


PRESS: Vilmarie, what possessed the Puerto Ricans to come to 's-Hertogenbosch?
CASTELLVI: Well, I don't know. We all agreed as a team to participate here maybe to deviate a bit from the upcoming hard court swing of tournaments I guess you could say. Not to mention that 's-Hertogenbosch is just a great place to be. I know Kristina [Brandi] loves it here, she won here a couple years back so she was pretty excited.
PRESS: Give us a play by play of your game today, what went wrong?
CASTELLVI: I think I played well during most of both of the matches. I just feel like I disappeared during the bigger points. Specifically, in the first set tiebreaks. Nothing was clicking right, so I was understandably a bit disappointed in myself. They made a lot of lucky shots and I hit a lot of errors. :lol::worship:
PRESS: Do you feel like there was a lot of pressure on you, considering Puerto Rico's success the last couple of weeks?
CASTELLVI: I did at first. I was watching from the sidelines while Kristina [Brandi] played those tournaments, feeling so good, knowing that I'd be representing here. I lost a few weeks back at Tokyo in the first round and I just couldn't get over it. I'm really depressed right now but I had to come to avoid the fines... I keep losing so I can't afford it. :devil:
PRESS: Is there anything that can cheer you up?
CASTELLVI: The only thing that can help right now is getting back on those practice courts and getting ready with my team for next week. That's the biggest relief, knowing that there's always another day, another week, another tournament where we can play our game and again hope for the best..... Thank you all for coming. Sorry for being so grumpy.

In other tournament news, top seeded China dispatched Russia 4-6 6-3 6-2. Nadia Petrova represented Russia, while Zheng Jie represented for China. The Chinese coach later stated that he doesn't feel China will have much of a problem here considering that there are not many grass court specialists on tour. One can only trust in his statements after China's amazing maiden WTT title last week in Bangkok. Furthermore, WTT debutantes Georgia and the always tough Canadians cruised past Puerto Rico in their group. Being represented by Ekaterine Gorgodze (GEO) and Ekaterina Shulaeva (CAN) they set up what is sure to be an enticing first encounter between the two countries.

~ thetennisutopian ~

Puerto Rico officially retire....


j/k. That was a true ass whooping! Congrats!

OMG I was scared then :scared: :p

Anway Thanks so much for the articles China and Peurto Rico :worship: ;)

Eka :bounce:

http://www.tenniseurope.org/images/junior/Gorgodze1.jpg

http://i16.tinypic.com/4kbvar9.jpg

2 pics of Gorgodze ;)

Thanks for the pics Gigi ;)

http://i16.tinypic.com/4kbvar9.jpg
are you sure that's not Bartoli? :devil:

http://i16.tinypic.com/4kbvar9.jpg

are you sure that's not Bartoli? :devil:

:eek: :lol:
But she somehow reminds me of J.Cap.:shrug:
And she's more 'fleshy' than Marion!!!:eek::o

I thought J-Cap aswell :lol: Final group matches in 15 mins!

Patch, that's not Ekaterina Shulaeva , that's Wozniacki :lol:

Patch, that's not Ekaterina Shulaeva , that's Wozniacki :lol:

I thought it was but when I searched for Eka that pic always came up so I thought 'maybe just a very uncanny resemblance' but obviously not ;)

[1] CHN Jie Zheng def. BLR Vika Azarenka W/O :shrug:

I thought VIka would be a big force here but she literally didnt turn up. Jie wins this group and Nadia second - both will play in the semis.


CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva def. GEO Ekaterine Gorgodze 6-7(5) 6-1 7-6(5)

:worship: Both were already assured of Qualifying but they still managed to put on the best match of the tournament so far. Well Done to Ekaterina for the win but well done to both for reaching the Semi Finals!!

Sorry there are no pics but today could be (live) semis so they will be better ;)

Here are the Semi Final line ups:
[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. GEO Ekaterine Gorgodze
RUS Nadia Petrova vs. CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva

You may change points/players before them if you wish ;)

Sorry I have to pull out of this game, Azarenka is vacant now

Sorry I have to pull out of this game, Azarenka is vacant now

:confused: Are you retiring??

Yes sorry! I have no time

Yes sorry! I have no time

:bigcry::hug: Ok then

Thanks though for playing the game when you could :yeah:

I'll change my player to Sofia Shapatava !

^ Will Sofia be easier to find pics of :p

China Into Fourth Straight Semifinals

China versus Belarus was supposed to be playing in their last round robin match but it turned to be an easy route for China to get past the round robin stages by winning the match with a walkover.The Europe team didn't show up in the whole event.The team manager of China did expect such things to happen since they didn't show up for their first match against Russia.

Now,China is through to the semifinals again.They will meet Georgia in their semifinal matchup."I'll face another newcomer later in the semis.I expect to a tougher match compared to the one against Russia.I just hope I will not let my team disappointed."says Jie Zheng.

Another semifinal matchup will be between Russia's Nadia Petrova and Ekaterina Shulaeva of Canada.

^ Will Sofia be easier to find pics of :p

You can find her pic from the link in my sig ;)

[2] Peurto Rico - Vilmarie Castellvi


Oh yeah Patch I always forget to say something, but Puerto Rico is spelled with the U before the E. Just for future reference :kiss:.

Sorry for not writing articles or comemnts, I'm just pretty busy these times, Ekat :D

http://www.rogerscup.com/3/en/players/photogallery/photos/2007-08-14/f_pic-08-14-07-n05-g.jpg

http://www.radio-canada.ca/sports/images/2007/tennis/normales/s/sh/PC_070812shulaeva-ekaterina_n.jpg

Not such good pics of Ekat but they still are pics of her

^^if possible could you tell me were I find pics :angel:

:lol: Posted Q and A at same time

Semis tommorow! Sorry :wavey:

:sad:

^^If you have them now they wont be live ;) its up to you if theyre live tommorow or not live now :p

Shulaeva vs. Petrova live in 10 mins ;)

's-Hertogenbosch

Singles Semi Finals

CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva vs. RUS Nadia Petrova

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Petrova leads Shulaeva 6-4

's-Hertogenbosch

Singles Semi Finals

CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva vs. RUS Nadia Petrova

Petrova leads Shulaeva 6-4

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Petrova is tied with Shulavea 6-4 2-6

's-Hertogenbosch

Singles Semi Finals

CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva vs. RUS Nadia Petrova

Petrova is tied with Shulavea 6-4 2-6

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CAN Ekaterina Shulaeva def. RUS Nadia Petrova 4-6 6-2 6-1

http://www.rogerscup.com/3/en/players/photogallery/photos/2007-08-14/f_pic-08-14-07-n05-g.jpg

:eek: After faltering in the first set what a beat down from Eka in the second and third :worship: She becomes the first canadian to reach a WTT final and will be a very dangerous opponent to whoever she plays. Nadia :hug: you played very well and im sure youll be doing damage on your more favoured surfaces ;)

The other semi final in about 5-10 mins ;)

's-Hertogenbosch

Singles Semi Finals

[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. GEO Sofia Shapatava

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Zheng leads Shapatava 6-2

's-Hertogenbosch

Singles Semi Finals

[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. GEO Sofia Shapatava

Zheng leads Shapatava 6-2

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Zheng is tied with Shapatava 6-2 6-7(3)

Come on Sofia !

's-Hertogenbosch

Singles Semi Finals

[1] CHN Jie Zheng vs. GEO Sofia Shapatava

Zheng is tied with Shapatava 6-2 6-7(3)

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GEO Sofia Shapatava def. [1] CHN Jie Zheng 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

http://i9.tinypic.com/4ykjgwn.jpg[/IMG[IMG]http://i9.tinypic.com/4ykjgwn.jpg

:eek: What a match and what a result. The young gun upsets one of the most experianced and best countries on tour :worship: Congratulations Georgia for getting to the final in their debut tournament :yeah: China :hug: You were only just beaten - youll be a big factor on grass this year ;)

:bigclap: Well Done to Georgia and Canada for making tommorows final! :bigclap:

As you have already played this week, At least one of you has to change their points for the final to be played but both of you can change players or points if you wish ;)

Dubai semis in a couple of hours ;)

Sofia :woohoo: What a win :worship:

China :hug:

Ekat :bounce:

Note to Georgia and Canada - no new points yet. If its like that tommorow there wont be a final tommorow:sad:. I just want a different score to last time ;)

Wait a minute I'm sending them!

I sent my points

Final will be tommorow now Georgia can still send new points if they wish ;)

Darn it!:(
Congrats Georgia though.:)

Article later...