Harrow Greenwich Open
I arrived into JKF airport in New York on Monday afternoon. My husband Danny is with me which is great as he's never been to New York before. I'm staying with a fantastic family (the Scott's) where i've stayed for the last couple of years.Monday was hard work as it always is arriving in America because the time difference is 5 hours behind England. I tried to stay up as late as possible before going to bed about 10.30pm.
Tuesday morining Danny and I went down to the club and had a hit. Generally getting the flight out of our legs and doing a bit of practise. I'm playing at the Roundhill Club and so this is where I practised. After hitting we decided to go into New York City. It was a great day and we went to Grand Central, Rockefeller Place, up the Empire State building and did plenty of shopping. It was great fun and something to break the week up.
Wednesday went well. I light practise in the morning and solo in the afternoon was great. I'm felt alot less jetlagged. Looking forward to my match on Thursday against Sam Terran. Thursday morning went well. Practised again and chilled out for the afternoon. My match was at 6pm. I went to the club at 5pm and warmed up well. The match went ok. I played well in patches. Sam hit alot of errors at the beginning of the first and second games and gave me leads. The 3rd was abit closer but I managed to close it out. I won 3-0 9.5 9.2 9.6. I now play Natalie Grainger, number 1 seed tomorrow at 5pm now.
Friday went really well. I practised again in the morning and then had lunch. I chilled out at home until 4.15pm and left for the courts. My match was at 5pm so I warmed up well and was ready to go. Natalie's a great player and ranked 4 in the world. However, she made a slow start, not moving well and just didn't look ready for the match. I played well and put in some good short balls to expose this and won the the first game 9-0. The second was going to be tough. After making a 3-0 lead she upped the pace and started to control the middle. At times in seemed like feeding practise but I stuck in the rallies and chased. I lost that game 9-4 and the third was similar losing that 9-5, although I started to play better towards the end of the 3rd. The fourth was tight the whole way. I played better and we were both moving well. It was 6-6 and I hit a tin off serve to go 7-6 down. Determinded not to hit another one I chased in the next ralley, desperate not to go matchball down. I won the ralley and then levelled at 7-7 and after another tough ralley went 8-7 up. Eventually, I closed out the game 9-7 with one of the best straight forehand volley drops i'd hit all match to level it at 2-2. I was up for the 5th big time. I'd been playing well in the lead up to this tournament and wanted it to pay off. I went out fast and before I knew it I was 5-0 up. A combination of Natalie's errors and good short balls from me. At 5-0 I hit a ball out and it was 0-5. I got the serve straight back and went from 5 to 8 in one hand. My first matchball was lost on a cracking drop shot from her and the second a low kill off serve. She was never able to convert a point though which kept me confident. On my third matchball I finished the match with a forehand straight drop which wasn't returned!! I was elated and so pleased to be in the semi's. I've beaten her before but not when she's been playing at this level and having good wins. I am really pleased and looking forward to the semi tomorrow against Alison Waters.
Saturday was a similar pattern to the other days. Practised at 10am and then went down to sign posters and t-shirts for the kids at Greenwich Country Club. I was playing at 4.30pm and so ate lunch and chilled before going down to the club about 3.45pm. The match wasn't that great from me. Alison played well and I struggled to get into it at the beginning. I lost the first 2 games 9-4, 9-0 which wasn't a fantastic start and was very tentative, no where near the level I know I can play. The 3rd was better from me. Less mistakes and more meaning in my play. I won the 3rd 9-4. The 4th however was a mixture between the first two games and the 3rd. It was ok but still not great. I lost 9-4 and was very disappointed to lose as it was a great opportunity.
Another semi final in Greenwich to match my semi final in Monte Carlo which I can't complain about. Bring on the finals of these events......
Onto Apawamis now where I play Vicky Botwright first round on Friday.