I had a default today so didn’t play, but I do play at 9am tomorrow. Unfortunately I booked a practice court at 8:25, since the court times come out about 7pm, but one has to book a practice court around 3pm..anyway, I play a pretty good German player tomorrow so will have to warm up mentally instead of on the court!
Today I watched only two matches but they were both marathons…Jenny Cerff took on the top seed in the women’s 55, Laura Vitorri from Italy, and won the first set 76. The second set was close, 64, and we thought Jenny was ahead 42 when we left, but we obviously read the scorecard incorrectly, (unless the score wasn’t correct onlineJenny lost 62 in the third. It was a 3 hour plus match that started at noon and it was warm and muggy! It was a contrast in styles, Jenny has a big serve and forehand while Laura does damage with her crafty backhand. The more experienced clay court player won in the end.
Erin also had a 3 hour plus match. We (Erin, Marc Pepin from Canada and her daughter Hannah) watched the first set, then left to watch Jenny; when we returned Erin had split sets and she won the match in three sets. Her opponent was a good clay court player, nice forehand, heavy slice backhand and good angles. Erin was the better overall player and once she got her “clay legs”, she pulled out the win.
There are a few other Americans here. Michael Beautyman won his match. Greg Shepherd got a walkover in singles. Jeff Dearth won in men’s 65. Bruce Barrett also won in men’s 65.
Doubles hasn’t started yet…maybe on Thursday. This tournament, though held in Spain is run by Germans and announcements are made in German, then English, then Spanish and there aren’t a lot of Spanish players in the draw. It’s a truly international tournament. It’s run well.. practice courts are booked via a computer and only players registered in the tournament can sign up for their 25 minute session each day, four players to a court. There are four venues used and transport to each venue is available, other than the one within easy walking distance. There are events many evenings for the players and nice player gifts and good prize money for winners and finalists at a minimum. And it’s in a nice location.
