Amanda Keen GBR [247] v Lilia Osterloh (4) USA [117]

Amanda lost (i presume in straights)

Sarah Borwell GBR [227] v Jamea Jackson (Q/2) USA [98]

Sarah lost the first set 6-4

Elena Baltacha made a welcome return to the Surbiton courts just about a year to the day after her major back surgery which held up her blossoming career.

"It was so good to be back" said a delighted Baltacha after a solid win over New Zealand girl Leanne Baker 6-4, 7-6(7).

"I felt really comfortable out there especially considering it was my first time on grass for two years."

poor sheddie, the wobbly one lost. hey btw did you gte my email of that piccy? never said thx or anything. typical shedman for u.

what happened to llewellyn 1-6 (very impressive) 6-0 (opps)

as thsi is a ladies thread i probably wont be back, cept to check out for shedies grovelling apology.

Surbiton Day Out - Part 1!

OK here goes...Turned up at Burgess Hill station in glorious sunshine looking forward to some quality tennis and topping up the tan..well 1 out of 2 not bad! Got off to a bad start when train was cancelled and had to change twice to get to leafy Surbiton. Once at station no signs so followed a guy carrying a racket (luckily he was not going to the local David Lloyd).
Soon came to a big sign saying 'International Tennis Tournament'...very grand!

Got to the courts bathed in dense cloud and walked straight in (past a foreigner who could not work out why he did not have to pay to get in!). Walked around the outside courts and headed for Brewer v Niemieyer. Martin Lee was there watching (amazing he spends whole life on tour...retires and then spends rest of life watching tour). When I got there Brewer was a break down and I watched the next 2 games which he lost convincingly (can't work out what Niemieyer is doing having to qualify for Challengers?)

Decided to leave that game and head to the show courts to watch Bally..

Part 2

So onto the show courts and took my seat just in front of David Felgate and Jo Durie (who I assume is Bally's coach - apologies for my ignorance on the womens game!)

When I got there Bally was 4-2 up and I have to say she looked in really good condition which is great to report. She held on easily to take the first set with one comical moment when she thought she had served an ace which umpire called out. She queried with Baker as it seemed Baker had said good shot, but Baker said she was calling it out. Bally then muttered under her breath 'Yeah Whatever!'

The second set was a lot tighter with Baker having the only break point. Far from being a serve-volleyer as was mentioned here she plays with a lot of slice which Bally was having trouble picking up. Felgate spent the whole time moaning about her return of serve saying she was playing the shot too early. She needs to work on overheads as well as she dumped 3 in the net. Tiebreak could of gone either way and if she had lost it I was not confident she would win as she was puffing a bit at the end. Good win though and she is such a battler it's good to see her back.

Felgate was talking about how the Wild Cards were decided with one from each age group being picked. Apparently the last one was a lottery between Thornley, Prichard and Coupland. While Bally was playing I was keeping my eye on Llewellyn v Rolle. Rolle was a Serena lookalike and played a bit like her as well. She was also very vocal and when she won the first set roared out 'Come On' which woke up the old duffer in front of me!!.
The second set was the best tennis I saw all day with Becki playing superbly (Felgate querying why she does better on grass when her game is suited to clay)..she was having a few 'home' calls and lucky net cords as well as running down everything and Rolle was getting very frustrated. I left at end of set 2 and was amazed to see she had lost final set to love?

By this time I was in need of refreshments so headed to the cafe to mix with the British tennis set!

Jim got a break at the start of the final set then immediately went 0-40 down. He then produced a couple of great serves to hold on. It was a really topsy-turvy set but there were no more breaks and although Ghedin is obviously no grass-courter still an impressive display.

By this time I was sitting next to Delgado and Bloomers (have to say delgado is pretty scary with that facial-hair!). Thought it funny when Bloomers asked him who he played in main draw and he did not know...who could you play then he went on...no idea he said!! Guess you get pretty laid back about it after years on the tour...if that had been me I would have been in the tournament office straight after the match!

I started watching some ladies doubles Hawkins/Thomas v Klepac/Yuan...was not impressed with Thomas who just seemed to be getting ball back in court with no real pace. They lost fairly easily then they victors came off court and stood by me. Klepac (who was quite a looker) said to Yuan..'Oh shall we have a try at Wimbledon qualifying' a bit like me asking a mate if we wanted to enter the local parks competition. Her coach had to intervene as Yuan did not speak much English...saying 'You do know her ranking right?'!...will look out to see if they make the cut..

Then it was Broady/Elliott v Wozniak/Bai and I was really impressed with both girls. Elliott was smaller and stockier but had good power while Broady was about a foot taller that all the others and just made for grass court tennis (as well as being the best looking girl I saw all day)... They played really well but most of the time were just giggling on the court (especially when Broady completely missed a smash)...anyway with that I was close to catching pneumonia so decided to head off back to the station.

An excellent day spoilt only by the weather and would do it again next year as it is great to get close to the players. Eastbourne and Wimby qualies next for me

yes thanks very much Seagull. Glad you had a good day and I hope you have no ill effects from the weather