Sorry it's a bit late but this is the first chance I've had to get online since yesterday :)

After having a lot of fun on the phone asking the receptionist to read me the order of play (she gave up after trying to say 'Kalyuzhnaya' ;) ) I got to the Welsh National Tennis Centre (which is miles away from anywhere else in the city) around midday. You can stand in one place and see just about everything on all four courts, so I didn't focus too much on any particular match. Bartoli v Cohen Aloro and Sfar v Geznenge were on when I got there - Marion was about to embark on her second set bagel of Stephanie, and the second set of Sfar-Geznenge was about to start.

Well, I'll just say this: I watched most of the match, and I still have no idea how Marion lost. She was on fire in the second set, just smacking returns everywhere. Stephanie could barely get a racket on to the ball. Marion has nice volleys, too, and should definitely think about coming to net more - if she persists with that return stance, it puts her in an ideal position to be aggressive. Anyway, during the second set Stephanie looked as if she had no game at all. I'd never seen her play before, and she looked awful. No power on anything, unable to do anything to counter Marion. At the start of the third, though, she started hitting very hard and very flat, as opposed to half-hearted attempts at loopy topspin shots. Marion took her foot off the pedal slightly, and suddenly found herself embroiled in a bit of a dogfight... but I really assumed Marion would edge Stephanie, simply because she was so much better. At 4-5 she went down 0-40 on her own serve, giving Stephanie three match points, but she saved the first two with some breathtakingly aggressive winners... I still thought she'd manage to take the game somehow, but Stephanie obviously decided to take matters into her own hands on the third match point and won it with a nice volley.

Sfar-Geznenge was less interesting, though not for lack of trying on Selima's part ;) She threw a pretty big tantrum at 3-2 up, which was funny. I love her game - I'd only ever seen her briefly at Wimbledon, so I'd never really seen her in full flow. You can definitely see the Nathalie Tauziat influence in her game - lovely slice backhand, good net play. She plays with a real artistry, which I like. She's also a really charming girl - I ended up standing next to her quite a lot to watch various matches, and she's fun to talk to. She had her hair in bunches, which was very sweet, and had by far the best fashion sense of any girl present (she was wearing a very nice Lacoste tracksuit). I liked Geznenge as well, she hits the ball incredibly hard, but incredibly inaccurately. She was having fun in doubles later though.

Next, I divided my attention between Ahl v Russegger and Blahotova v Keothavong. Both Blahotova and Keothavong impressed me more than I thought they would, but both are SO streaky. Anne K has more power than I'd expected, but when Olga B's double-handed backhand is on (not all that often to be honest, certainly not often enough) it's a killer shot. Anyway, Anne displayed good court craft (despite occasionally coming to net at silly times, and sometimes getting caught flat-footed) and was able to move Blahotova around enough to have the edge most of the match. At the start of the second set she made a lot of UEs and really got down on herself - she was able to pull it together at the start of the third, but she shouldn't have let it cost her the set. She was actually up 5-2 in the third with MPs, but Blahotova really pulled out all the stops at that point and nearly levelled the match. Both of them, btw, are very vocal towards themselves - at one point Anne missed an absolute sitter of a shot and bellowed 'YOU FUCKING TOSSER!!!!' at herself. It echoed around the hall so much, and on the next court Ahl and Russegger both turned to see what the hell had happened. And Sandra Kleinova (who was watching) looked quite shocked at some of the things Olga B was saying to herself.

Gossip interlude - the bloke who appeared to be Anne K's coach (he was writing lots of notes on Blahotova, probably for future reference) either knows Sandra Kleinova very well or was shamelessly flirting with her. He looked like he was flirting with Amanda Janes later, too...

Ahl v Russegger. Well, Petra Russegger was my discovery of the day! I doubt she'll ever make it as a top player - she has too many weaknesses, which I'll outline later - but when she's not being afflicted by them, she's incredible to watch. She looks almost exactly like Lina K (same hairstyle, everything) and plays with the same elegance as Nastya (though she's far more willing to go to net, and can mix her groundstrokes up more). The problems are: she'll set up a point beautifully, but half the time will fluff the putaway; she has a propensity to make UEs as a matter of course in any case; she's very in-and-out, both in terms of her game and mentally. Once Lucie went up in the third set there was no doubt about the outcome at all. But Petra's play towards the end of the second set was truly stellar, and she played a hell of a tiebreak. Oh, and Lucie swears a lot, even more than Anne. And Petra had a very vocal support group, which pissed Lucie off quite a lot.

O'Donoghue v Nejedly. Saw bits of this intermittently. Not enough to gauge Nejedly's game - she's very pretty, but I'm fairly sure she wasn't at her best - but I'm again impressed with O'Donoghue. She showed an excellent fighting spirit, and she hits her groundies so cleanly. Ultimately though there were too many limitations in what she could actually do with the ball, and Nejedly didn't really have to sweat too much. Lots of Team GB people watching Jane, incidentally, more than those watching Anne or Lucie.

Ostrovskaya v Glass nearly killed me, and everyone watching it. The third set began at the same time as the O'Donoghue v Nejedly second set; by the time Nejedly had gone 5-4 up, Ostrovskaya and Glass were still in the second game. Of the set. I lost track of the number of deuces I saw, but it was too many, especially for two girls playing so defensively. When Glass finally got to 5-3 up (this took about an hour, I swear) and got matchpoints, literally everyone sighed with relief. Of course, Ostrovskaya just had to win that game, at which point you could hear this vast groan rippling through the spectators. I didn't care enough about the outcome to stay any longer - I don't think I could have risked being bored to death, frankly.

I saw a couple of games of the Geznenge/Pandjerova v Boulykina/Domachowska doubles... Irina Boulykina needs to lose weight, but Marta D was impressive (when she was paying attention... her mind certainly wasn't totally on the game).

I'll be going back, possibly for the semis and final but probably just for the final. Depends who gets through, really. I may even try and grab someone to interview for the student paper, and of course I will also provide reports :)

thanx for the report :)

Thanks Alex. Sounds an interesting enough day. I knew Lucie could get a bit tetchy but am surprised at Anne saying that. suddenly I'm warming to her more!

cool that Petra R is playing that well:bounce:

MirjanaLFan how can you be suprised by Anne saying that she always swears!Shes got warnings all over the place.

Don't you remember the icident TBE told us last year at Bolton when Anne stuck the v's at the umpire:eek:

I've only ever seen her play courtside once ( against Janet Lee ) and she was very well behaved that day.

Anne gets pretty flustered easily
she's got to learn to control her emotions ;)

anne into semi's winning in 3 sets(7-5) in the 3rd
lucy lost in 3sets but a good run.
well done anne and lucy

and about Petra Russegger
why else do you think her names RUSEgger ;)

Ta for the roving report Alex! (You should do that for a living, you know ;))

I don't know why but everytime i've seen Anne K on the telly shes been very well behaved.Prob cos she knows theres loads of people there and prob watching on telly.I have seen her whack balls into back fences to releave her frustration!

she is not the kind of person i thought would say those kind of words!!!!!! GOOOO ANNE!!!!!!!! ;) :D

"Miles away from anywhere else in the city", no!!!!! It takes me approx 15 minutes walk from Cardiff station. Thanks very much for the report anyway! I'll be attending tomorrow and Sunday, but staying overnight in nearby Bridgend.

God you live in Essex and are going i live in North Wales and i'm not:o

Thanks for a great report.
It's good to hear Anne can get worked up over a mistake and then get on with winning the match. I hope she can learn to keep those expletives "under her breath" (like Henman does) before the stuffed blazers of the LTA hear them!

Hello ABS, haven't we met in GBTG's messages?
Welcome to WTAworld!

Thanks Alex for an enjoyable read!!!

Of course it wouldnt be a sartrista report without a gossip interlude ;)

Cheers everyone for the comments. bluepastures - the train station is miles away too, about forty minutes walk from my house.

Anyway, I went again today (so you'd probably have been there too, bluepastures) but only for the second semi and the doubles matches. And I got an interview with Anne K! I'll post the article when I've written it (the print deadline is at least a week away and I'm very lazy, so don't expect it any time soon), but she's very cool indeed. I was impressed she agreed to do one after such a tough loss, but she was very charming and professional. Off the top of my head - she was thinking about quitting tennis and going to university at the end of last year, but she said that changing her coach was really the key to her continuing on; her favourite band is Coldplay, and she hates cheesy music; she wants to be top 200 by the end of the year, but is taking it on a day-to-day basis. She wasn't too demoralised about the win, more frustrated that Cohen-Aloro was playing so well that she couldn't play her own game. Oh yes, and she said she's improved her temper ;) I talked to her dad as well, he's a sweet old man who was oddly interested in what degree course I was doing.

Anyway, the tennis. I got there at the start of the second set of Keothavong v Cohen-Aloro, and it was immediately apparent that Stephanie was on fire. Nothing like the Stephanie of Thursday - she was hitting hard, flat and accurately. Very few mental lapses, complete determination. I couldn't believe this was the same player I'd thought had no game at all a few days back. Anne wasn't playing badly, and hit some lovely winners at times (including an astonishing diving volley off a Cohen Aloro power forehand), but Cohen Aloro was playing like a top 50 player.

My discovery of the day was Marta Domachowska - I saw the doubles match between Domachowska/Boulykina and Diaz-Oliva/Pullin in full. It's hard to believe she's only 16 - as well as hitting with incredible power she also plays with excellent composure. It was unfortunate, then, that she was partnered with Irina Boulykina, who is, to be honest, a bit rubbish. Boulykina has no power at all - despite being on the large side - and time and again would pat volleys into mid-court which she should have put away. And don't even go there about her smashes :o They were terrible. Pullin and Diaz-Oliva soon turned lobbing Boulykina into a tactic, as she'd invariably either miss the smash or give them an easy putaway. I swear Marta D would have done better playing on her own, though at a set and 4-0 down, Boulykina woke up and hit some nice volley winners. Diaz-Oliva rarely volleyed, but she was solid from the back of the court; Pullin was excellent at the net and a bit lightweight at the baseline (as ever, then). Still - watch out for Domachowska. I personally expect to see her in the top 100 in a few years' time.

Wasn't paying much attention to the other doubles match, but I did see that Marion Bartoli actually has a normal returning stance in doubles, not the mad halfway-to-the-net thing she does in singles.

I won't be going tomorrow, as Kleinova v Cohen Aloro doesn't interest me in the slightest (Kleinova isn't very compelling, and Cohen Aloro's beaten three of my faves in a row and I never want to see her again ;) ), so here endeth my reports. :) Enjoy!

poor sartrista7 ;)

thanks for the report

Oh yes, forgot to say - Anne was very well-behaved today with not even a mutter out of her. Possibly cos her dad was there ;)

I wouldn't say that Boulykina's rubbish. Awkward, yes. She has actually got a lot of power when she's on form. She also has fragile confidence, and plays much better when her coach is there, which he wasn't today. I think I saw Sartrista interviewing Anne. Were you on the other side of that window from the Boulykina match
In the other semi Kleinova beat Nejedly 6-2, 6-2. Both sets ran to the same pattern with Kleinova breaking Nejedly in the first game of each set, and never giving up that lead. A fire alarm interrupted the match for 10 minutes after the first game.
It was a fairly slow-paced match. Neither player is quick around the court. The difference is Kleinova fights for every single point. Nejedly is rather lazy! If a ball looks like a good winner for her opponent, she barely attempts to return it.

Yes, that was me. At one point Marta Domachowska nearly ran into that window and smiled at us.

Hmm. I didn't see Boulykina hit a single decent shot with power, but that said I did miss most of the first set interviewing Anne. I thought of her more as a touch player, and one who wasn't all that great either. Obviously I can't judge on the basis of one doubles match, but unless she was injured today I can't imagine her hitting with any more pace.

A couple of other things. Last year they had little stands for the spectators either side of the court. This year they didn't bother, so the spectators had to watch from behind nets. Why do the LTA make no efforts for spectators at these events. I'd be happy to pay an admission charge, if it meant an an unobstructed view.
Also the other doubles match was much more entertaining, with Bartoli & Webb beating Sassi & Lubiani 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. Bartoli is particularly entertaining to watch with precise winners mixed up with surprisingly wild miscues.

Thanks for another great report.
Commiserations to Anne. Good effort though, having had to quallify as well! :)

I think Irina is a good player, she definitely is more of a singles player, a consistent baseliner and not a volleyer at all. At least in doubles she comes to the net and gives it a go. She's obviously trying to get better at her volleys. I saw her play singles and doubles at London $10K earlier this year and I didnt think she was too bad! She certainly has potential to be ranked a lot higher than she currently is!

Thank you for the report and those good words about Marta :)

Thanx for the reports!

Can't wait to read the Anne K interview shes my fav british player!
I hope shes as nice when i go watch her in Bolton in just over a week!

Me and my friend are planning on making some funny banners i hope she will like them;)

Thanks for posting these reports for us! A lot of fun to read. :)

M_R - she'll definitely appreciate the support, I expect it'll probably help her. The Anne interview will probably have to be part of an article explaining about Challengers etc. for students who know next-to-nothing about tennis... I will see what the Sports Editor has to say about it all. I am totally taking over the paper, though.

Thanks to all for the comments :)