Sunny Morning, Donner & Blitzen Afternoon

Today was a tale of two different weather patterns: in the morning and early afternoon it was quite warm and muggy, but by mid afternoon it was cloudy and thunder and lightning were heard and seen. And then it rained on and off the rest of the day.

I played Gundi Wieland for the second time in less than a week (we played last Friday). I won 60 60 but it was a better match than last week. We played at a secondary site, the Leonstein Club. The courts there were harder, more level and since it was warm, they were dry too, so the ball ran a bit more on the surface (not that much more…it was still red clay after all).

After our match Gundi and I had a drink at the main club. After lunch I wandered back to the club to scout a match, the winner of which I would play in the semis, Inge from Austria and Cornelia from Germany. Inge hits hard and is very athletic and Cornelia is a retriever with funky but consistent strokes. I left when it started pouring; and went back later…they were still playing but didn’t finish, they are tied at a set apiece and Cornelia up 21 in the third. On the other side of the draw are two lefties, the 2nd and 3rd seeds.

There are a few Americans here. Danny Shaw, who lives in Europe but who is originally from San Diego played Max Bates from Australia first round (not a good draw) and fell in straight sets. Bruce Barrett, M70, won. Veronica Lima de Angelis retired down 3/0 in the third in women’s 60s. Hans Weber, M75, prevailed. Keith Porter, M65, Canada lost in three sets.

The thunder and lightning ⛈ went on till dark, but tomorrow should be a good day. I don’t play tomorrow because Cornelia and Inge didn’t finish. They didn’t finish because they had a 1:30 start since Inge is local and gets afternoon start times every day…the one accommodation impacting the rest of the draw and delaying it by a day. 🤔