It was a beautiful day In Poertschach, Austria today. The lake sparkled and it was sunny and 80ish, i.e. warm. I  played Hildegarde Bruggraeber from Austria and won 60 61, though we had good points and some good games. My partner, Heidi Eisterlehner, hurt her knee so we had to default our doubles unfortunately. Tomorrow I play the singles final against Veronica Lima de Angelis, who plays under the US flag but I believe she lives full time in Europe. She upset the #2 seed, Encarnita Gomes Diaz 75 61, scoring her first win over Encarnita in four tries. She plays an unusual game…two handed moonballs off both sides combined with one handed slices and an opportune net game. She sliced and moonballed Encarnita very precisely and made only a few errors, so it should be a good match tomorrow.

Heide Orth plays the 75 final tomorrow while Nora Blom plays the 65 semis. In the 70s, former world champions Carol Campling and Michelle Bichon are still on track to meet in the final. In the 55s, Lisa Prechtel plays Laura DiVittori in the final. It’s interesting watching the evolution of the game from the 35s to the 80s. The grips are different and the strokes and most of all the pace of the ball from the 35s and even 45s is quite a lot more than in older divisions. We all know that, but seeing it is different.

Draws are here: http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100038774