Qatar Classic
I flew on Qatar Airways on Tuesday afternoon from Manchester to Doha. The plane was pretty empty and we could spread out abit. We arrive in Doha at midnight and went straight to the hotel. The time difference is 3 hours and so even though it was 1am and I should have been tired, English time it was only 10pm. I tried to go to sleep but it took a while to get off.I got up at 9.30am the next morning to try and get on Qatar time. Had breakfast and changed my room because it was smoky. I hit at 12.20pm with Donna and had a good hit. I watched some of the qualifying matches before going back to the hotel and going to the function at 8pm. It was at the W Hotel which is a new 7star hotel in Doha. The food was amazing as was the decor. We left about 10.30pm and I went to bed about midnight.
My 1st round was against qualifier Dipika Pallikil from Indian. She's a good young player and has been having some good results lately. I wanted to play well and get my tournament off to a good start. I had a practise with Donna again and was one of the early matches on court at 2.40pm. I warmed up about 2.20pm and made an ok start. I was feeling brilliant and my shots weren't sitting in great. We trded points all the way upto about 9-9 in the 1st game and I took it 11-9. The 2nd was better. I built my length and then played my short shots well. I won that game 11-5. I was feeling good for the 3rd with a 2-0 lead. However, I lost my length again early on and before I knew it was 7-3 down. I thought that it was too far to come back and just thought to myself 'try and play a few good rallies to prepare you for the 4th'. I guess that relaxed me abit and I was back in it at 8-10 down. She made a couple of errors and I pushed through to win it 12-10. I was pretty pleased with the come back in the 3rd and glad to be off in 3.
The last 16 round was against Tania. I know Tan well from playing for England together and she's up in Manchester alot. It's difficult playing someone who knows you game so well but I guess I also know hers too. I had a good practise and we were due on at 2pm.
I made a good start at the beginning. Was hitting through the ball and really mixing it up well. Tan was moving well but I took the game 11-8. The 2nd started quite well. It was a tight few points and I think I lost abit of my racket head speed and I lost the game 12-10. The 3rd I got off to a bad start and had to dig deep to fight back from 5-0 down and 6-2 down. I managed to straighten up and get the middle again and won it 11-9. The 4th was good. We were level for the first part and then a couple of hard rallies gave me the momentum I needed to push on. I went 10-7 up and then Tan started to come back. She played well to get back to 10-10 and I played a couple of good rallies to win that game 12-10. It was closer than it should have been but after losing my lead it was good it close it out in 4 games. Nicol tomorrow in the quarters.
I felt pretty good the next morning. I had played my two matches so far on the back courts and now I was moving onto the glass (where Nicol had played both of her matches already). I had a practise on there and was seeing it ok. I felt good and was the first match on again at 2pm. I warmed up well and was feeling good. We started on time and the 1st game was good. Long rallies and quite a high pace. I lost the game 11-8 and was disappointed after feeling quite good. I wanted to change things up abit in the 2nd. I played a few more lobs and concentrated alot more on hitting the back corners. I was mixing the pace quite well and waiting for the right opportunity to go short. I think the change of pace took Nicol by surprise and I got off to a great 7-0 start. I would always be hard to come back from there. I won it 11-5 after being 10-2 up. The 3rd I tried to do the same again. Nicol was playing better by this point and didn't let me control the beginning. We fought neck and neck until about 8-8 and I got a lead to 10-8. She played great to get back in it and I kept telling myself to be positive and I hit a cracking forehand drop to give me game ball at 11-10 and then a dying length on gameball to give me a 2-1 lead. The 3rd was my turn to go walk about. I lost my composure. It's the first time i'd ever been 2-1 up against Nicol and I got excited. I went short too soon and my length wasn't good enough. She ate it up and I went down in that game 11-3. I started the 3rd ok. Abit slow but managed to get my self back in the game after being 6-4 down I levelled at 6-6. We went to 8-8 and we had a brutal rally. Nicol finished it on a great drop shot. Not much I could do. I was still trying to be really positive in my play but it was hard not to try and go for something when it wasn't there! At 9-8 down another long rally which ended with a poor lob down the middle of the court which took me by surprise. I snatched at it and tinned it when I should have just put in a nice forehand volley length (easy to look back). 10-8 down and trying to get back. Nicol played a great forehand drop and I got a no let (which was probably right) to lose the match. Disappointed but I played well. Nicol did well to dig herself out of that one. I'm getting closer. Maybe next time!