I warmed up today with a couple of Canadians, Mark and JP, who played in the afternoon (they both lost close matches in the 50s). I also watched my potential first round opponents  play each other, Margreth Beyer and Maria Popescu from Romania. It was a topsy-turvy match won by Margreth. She led 52 in the first set and then eked it out 75, then went down 3-0 and 5-2 in the 2nd set only to rebound and win the last 5 games, retrieving well, while her opponent tired. Margreth is the 4th ranked German, so I will have a tough match on Thursday morning.

I said good by to my rental car ,which I don’t need this week….after getting lost in road construction en route to returning it. I think next time I drive in Germany I must have GPS, the road signs are meant for people with 20/10 vision, which is not me! I’ll take the train when I leave Baden-Baden this time.

I ran into a couple of Americans, Jane and Jack Buffington at breakfast. Jane of course is an excellent doubles player, it was a surprise to see someone I knew who wasn’t in the tournament.

As usual in a European tournament, players chat on changeovers at length with their supporters, footfaults are rampant and unchecked, warm ups go on for a long time, and after play, everyone shares a drink. And here, though it’s the European championships, there are no new balls for third sets! (However the ITF Regulations require that 3 new balls be provided for a third set at any Grade 1 or 2 tournament. This is a Grade 1, so there must be some confusion.)There are plenty of spectators, and when Glenn Busby from Australia started play today, the sidelines quickly got crowded. He’s playing the 45 and 55 singles here, unseeded in the 45s and the top seed in the 55s.

More practice tomorrow, then I play I hope, the rest of the week.