I played the semis of the singles in Bordeaux against Christiane Deryckere today and won 60 64. The second set Christiane played very well…aggressively with few errors and she moved well. We had a few long games, she won some, I won some and then I played a good 5/4 game, a bit more aggressively, to serve it out. It was a good battle. Our referee looked to be about 15 and he was quite good, calling all the lines and missed only one out call, which is amazing considering how dusty and clay covered the lines become during a match.
I really thought that Kerry Ballard and I would have an actual on court doubles match today. Our opponents had played a match yesterday and won it easily…but alas, they defaulted to us today! Let’s recap: Barcelona: We are in the 55s draw; removed from the 55s and put in the 60s; receive a default in both of our matches in Barcelona and win the title without taking to the court; enter Bordeaux in the 60s; get a bye; get a default; we are in the final still without having hit a ball! Kerry Ballard must just scare opponents sick when they see her name in the doubles draw! We will have a match tomorrow though! Our opponents said they would play.
Tomorrow I am third match up on Court 1 because I am playing a French player, Caroline Glazmann. She’s a lefty and we just played in Helsinki, but that was indoors on hard, this is outdoors on red clay. I am looking forward to it.
Ross Persons, USA beat Fritz Raijmakers, the #2 seed from Netherlands 46 61 62, but said the last two sets, particularly the third set was much closer than the score. So was the first since Ross had a lot of break points but Fritz played a fantastic first set, with good serving and nice volleys. Ross plays his doubles partner for the week, top seeded Carlos Behar from Colombia in the final.
Daniel Grossman and Polo Cowan, USA are playing 35 and 45 doubles here but their scores weren’t posted. The other Americans in the draws lost earlier.
I had a chance to talk with Adrian Alle, who plays in the men’s 85 and his wife. He’s 86 years young and they are travelling here in Europe till October! Next stop is Klosters, Switzerland. He said it was hard to find tournaments that offered his age division. We discussed the dearth of 85s players. He knows my dad from Cups going way back, so it was a nice connection. Tennis keeps you young I think.
