imoen wrote:

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Good to see so many Brits in a draw and well done to the 5 qualifiers. (Also Amanda Elliot who did extremely well in her match)

Does the main draw start tomorrow(technically today) or Monday?

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Strangely enough (or not!) the official website 'times of play' doesnt actually say but hidden away  in report of yesterday's results it says -

"The $25,000 Surbiton Trophy ladies singles main draw will feature 14 British players when play gets under way on Monday."

Entry is free on Monday by the way.

so basically we just gave the wild card to a foreigner? what a joke. if i was someone who had a chance of getting it (like jade c or karen) i would be pissed off. doesn't this also mean that naomi loses a wildcard? she should be pissed aswell!

good luck to all the girls... shame i can't go to watch. who is going? anyone to give their views on the matches?

I think that Naomi's wild card will be annulled by the WTA if she informs them. But that's all we can get - Hewson can't be dropped now because she didn't get the chance to play qualies.


I wonder whether the organisers have realised this even now....

Go Bally!

Leanne Baker NZL [293] v Elena Baltacha GBR WC [430]

Elena won the match on a tiebreak (in the second I think though Seagull didn't say)

Asha Rolle (3) USA [116] v Rebecca Llewellyn GBR Q [432]

one set all

Some reports from Saturday's qualies...interesting stuff:

"Amanda Elliott is a real prospect. She has the complete game, great groundstrokes with a big forehand and ability to mix it up on the backhand, nice serve and a good forecourt game in which she's not afraid to come up to the net which is refreshing in our juniors. Can't believe she's only 16/17 as she looks much older - has a tremendous physique (Amelie Mauresome-esque) and played with such a maturity. She really took the ball on and went to Jackson and it was just a case of experience in the end. Jackson took 2 very extended injury breaks when Amanda was a break up in the second set which was very unsportsmanlike as it definitely had an effect; Amanda was sitting on court for a good 10 minutes while Jackson went off for treatment. Anyway, was extremely impressed and would be very tempted to give her a wildcard into Wimbledon qualies based on comparisons with other British contenders performances.

Emily is such a delight to watch. Her game is perfect for grass and she caused Karen so many problems with her slice and net approaches. The number of dropshots she hit in the middle of hard baseline rallies was phenomenal and her serve is such a weapon. I'm always amazed considering her size how hard she manages to hit it. Morita's such a tough draw but Emily's the type of player who plays better against higher ranked opponents. She looked extremely focused and competitive and seems to be working with Lucie now, so hopefully she can cause an upset. Shame she had to play Karen who would have beaten anyone else in the draw (except Jackson) but it again made me wonder why Karen spent all those weeks in the States playing on clay when her game is so suited to fast courts.

Naomi's game is perfect for grass and she can overwhelm so many people with her serve and groundstrokes. She battled well as she was (I think) a double break down in that first set.

Olivia really struggled against Holly in the first round but improved a million fold against Kriz. She has really nice groundstrokes but her serve is such a hindrance. She doesn't extend on the ball and her second serve is little more than a puffball which especially on grass is asking to be attacked.

Anna v Julia was a case of who made less errors and wasn't pretty to watch. Seemed Julia has taken on board Nigel's comments and was attacking the ball a lot more, though ironically she was much more effective when playing her natural defensive game soaking up Anna's play and counterpunching her. Bai isn't anyone to be scared of so would pick Anna to beat her in the main draw.

Liz v Anna was a throwback several decades - extremely entertaining with dinks, angles, slices and volleys aplenty. Becky had too much for Liz though and watching it I was really surprised that Becky's struggled this year as she looked to be playing really well. So hopefully she can turn things around as grass suits her game.

Sarah C looked amazing in the warm up but I missed the match and don't know how she managed to lose so quickly.

Deborah has a really nice game and I thought she would qualify so a bit surprised to see she lost (after I left). Good compact player but perhaps lacks the power.

Also overheard an interesting argument between Nigel and Lucie which effectively centred around Lucie's unhappiness about an "us and them" situation. She was talking about the problems she's had with many of the new coaches brought in on the ladies team and was talking about she and her players felt as if they were being sidelined by the LTA. Nigel was trying to reassure her that it wasn't the case and promised to speak to the other coaches. He also said that Mel was high up on his wildcard list and that he wanted to help her but she might have to go through qualies this year...."