Friday Morning, Rottach-Egern:

I won my first round yesterday, but the way the tournament run is interesting for Americans. I was 5th match on Court 4 at Durnbach Club, not before 3pm. ((Interestingly, the first match is considered 9am even if there are no 9am matches scheduled.)I arrived at the courts in Rottach early because I wanted to watch Heide Orth play and make sure I was there for the shuttle. I waited around for a while and noticed there was no shuttle coming or going in that 45 minutes. I asked when it would be there and was told…no shuttle today! However, the assistant referee took me after the women’s 75s final concluded. Meanwhile, I watched Heide, who was in a tight first set against the woman she played in the final of Bad Breisig. I left when she was leading 65, then she won 75 62. She plays Michelle Bichon from France today.

After I arrived in Durnbach around 2 or so, I saw there was a match on my court (4) and assumed it was the 4th match. I heard one of the players muttering in English and realized Aussie Wayne Cowley was playing and was in a tight second set. He lost it but won the third 60 (new balls help!). The spectators were definitely rooting for/coaching his opponent which fired him up. It was by this time after 3pm, and I discovered that was only match #3, as match #2 went 3 sets. I finally got on around 5pm. Meanwhile, the top seed in my division, Gundi Weiland, played on court 1 which was ready before 3pm (and sat open for 10 minutes) before their allotted time came up. Match #6 started on court 1 before match #5 on my court and other courts. Matches started at 10:30 or noon on the courts yesterday and there are no lights so some matches didn’t finish last night.

The upside of all this is that the stall selling cakes and coffee was doing great business and seemed to have an unlimited supply of different cakes, mostly involving fresh fruit, sort of a cross between cake and pie.

I played Edeltraut Horstmann from Germany. She’s a very fit player and runs very well, and would certainly beat me in a 50 yard dash! Fortunately we were playing tennis and not running track. She counterpunched pretty well, but I was able to go to net and volley her shots pretty often, and mixed in some high balls (there’s about 800 meters of altitude in Durnbach, or about 2700 feet, so the ball flies a bit) and drop shots. I won 60 61.

This afternoon at Rottach Club (which I can bike to…no shuttle needed!) I play Cornelia Keller, the 3rd seed, also from Germany. She’s a good player and I’ll have to be ready for her unusual style.

I saw yesterday Heidi Attlefellner who is playing here. She’s German but lives full time in Vermont and I know her from the USA. Debbie Hobbs and Bridget Harrer watched me play my match too. Here’s a photo of Debbie and Heidi, and a couple of the Durnbach courts.