I played Kim Reed, a British player who lives in Spain, and who upset the #3 seed, Sabine Schmitz in the first round. I played well (and moved pretty well) to win in just over an hour…a big contrast to the match played by my final round opponent Dr. Ulrike Hachmoeeler-Eisenbach of Germany.
Ulrike played here last year but clearly has improved a lot since then, and even since mid-summer judging by her recent results. She played #2 seeded Gundi Weiland of Germany in the semis. I watched just a bit of the third set before I had to leave, and it was tiring to watch, the points were so long! The match lasted well over five hours, and the score was 67 64 76, with lots of changes of momentum…Gundi was down 5/0 in the first, won it 76; lead 3/0 in the second, lost it 64, then of course the third set ended in a tiebreak after about two hours of play! We play the final though on Thursday, not tomorrow.
In doubles Susan Wright and I played a Canadian pair, Jeanne and Charlotte, and won 61 61 in a fun match. We play Sabine and Susanne in the final tomorrow.
Susan and Steve Dance beat the #2 seeds, Marc Pepin (CAN) and Sylvia Reigl (AUT) 63 61 in a match watched by a lot of spectators. They play the top seeds in the mixed final, who won by default (understandably) over Gundi/Keith Porter.
I finished off one of the huge tomatoes I bought at the market Saturday and started on the second one which tasted very good. It is the biggest tomato I’ve ever seen, must have weighed over two pounds!
