Hello from Pensacola, Florida…in the panhandle of Florida. It’s nice and toasty and dry here (well, a bit humid, but not raining).
The 40/50 clay courts started today. The draws are a bit small but loaded with tough players, the quality is very high.
All the 50s players were in action today except for the top seed, Diane Fishburne and Robin Harris who received a default…so they were in action practicing with each other. The section with the most players in this draw is….NorCal, with three…SoCal has 2, so there are 5 players here from California and only 2 from Florida. Who says Californians are hard court players.
Ok, so the matches…Sherri Bronson and Donna McKenna provided the lunchtime entertainment on Court 1. They had great rallies, and a lot of long games, but Bronson was more flexible and better able to end points, and won 62 63. The other good 50s match was between Frances O’Sullivan/Leslie Airola. Leslie won 63 64 in a little under 2 hours.
In the 40s, Kathy Vick’s relentless consistency resulted in a 61 60 win over Allison Peifler, a very good local player. The score was not indicative of the quality of the match. Vesna McKenna outlasted Claudia Scariot 62 64 in another good match. Scariot had McKenna pinned up against the fence in many rallies…good thing she’s tall.
Brian and Scott are as always a good team and the lunch was tasty and plentiful. Quarters of singles and doubles are tomorrow. The main draw in singles and doubles should end Friday.
Here’s the link to the draws. http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/draws/TournamentDraws.aspx?T=49504
The dinner is tomorrow…will try and post some photos tomorrow or Thursday.