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Successful Semis in Poertschach

Posted on June 13, 2019 9:02 am by Carolyn Nichols Comment
June 13, 2019, Poertschach, Austria

The order of play here was posted pretty late yesterday (about 9:30pm), due to the thunderstorms which delayed play. I was scheduled for 9am which meant an early warm up. Fortunately Ellen Neumann and her friend Katy Boeroecz (who was in the 55 semis) allowed me to warm up with them!

I played Cornelia Keller from Germany. We played on Center Court (only women’s matches were scheduled for such an early hour!). I won 60 61 and then watched the other women’s 60s semis for a while. I knew for sure I’d play another lefty, since the other semifinalists were both lefties. In the end Karin Theeuwes of the Netherlands won 75 75 over the #2 seed, Sylvia Reigl.

I also watched a bit of Lucie Schwab’s final…she looked tired and her wrist was taped but she played very cleverly, using lots of spins and angles and drops and won 63 63 to take the 50s division over Karola Thumm. In the women’s 75s, Michelle Bichon beat Heide Orth again, in two close, tough sets. Laura DiVittori beat Katy in the 55s semis and Barbora Koutna took out Lisa Prechtl, so they face each other tomorrow. DiVittori played smart, mixing up the pace of her serve and ground strokes and holding off a determined opponent in the second set, winning 75 64. Koutna used her superior groundstrokes to power past Prechtl. In men’s 85’s, Aussie Adrian Alle lost but German Herbert Althaus won. Werner, the German 80s player I hit with the other day lost to an unseeded player who moved very well. Wayne Crowley of Australia won in men’s 65s. Heidi Eisterlehner, with whom I trained the second day I was here beat Carol Campling of Australia 61 61. Canada’s Taras Beyko was playing top seeded Alexander Lindholm when I left and the two were having a good, even battle in the first set. I ran into Danny Shaw, and American living in Europe. He was playing doubles with Keith Porter of Canada and mixed with an Austrian.

The weather today was great, no rain, sunny and warm. They had a nice display of trophies up today since some finals were already played.

I play the singles final tomorrow and doubles semis (50s).
Draws are here.
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📂This entry was posted in Austria Austria European Regional Championship Grade A Tournaments ITF ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis Travel 📎and tagged Austria European Regional Championship Grade A itf ITF Grade A ITF Seniors Poertschach am Worthersee red clay Senior tennis tournament seniors tennis Tennis Tennis Europe Tennis tournaments tournaments
The Sun Returns…then So Does the Thunderstorm

Posted on June 12, 2019 11:21 am by Carolyn Nichols Comment
Wednesday June 12, 2019, Poertschach am Worthersee, Austria

This morning was beautiful and sunny here in Carinthia (the sun rises at 5am!). I hit midday with Laura DiVittorio (Italy, W55), and watched a little tennis. I ran into an Austrian friend and we arranged to hit at 3:30.

I went back to my hotel for lunch and to do some writing (no, not this blog). I had the drapes shut so I could see the screens and did hear noises from time to time but thought it was the AC cycling on (it wasn’t…I had actually turned it off). A bit after 3pm I left the hotel and saw that the ground was wet. It was sunny…I had totally missed a couple of downpours. The practice court was soaked, and matches delayed. Back to the hotel for a bit.

I went back around 5pm to see if my doubles partner was playing yet (she ended up coming on court after 6:30pm) and stayed to watch a really exciting women’s 50s match between #2 seeded Lucie Schwab (Austria) and #3 Petra Dobusch (Germany). This match was of a high level (the power was ridiculous) featuring huge forehands and service returns, insanely powerful overheads and magical down the line slices from Petra and gorgeous drops, slices that didn’t bounce (but still were returned), and lovely heavy topspin forehands combined with ferocious slice forehands from Lucie. Lucie won the first set before I started watching. Petra won the second 64. The two players didn’t take much of a break between sets, neither left the court and they didn’t even ask for new balls! Lucie won the first two games quickly; Petra rebounded, finding the court again from 2-3 down to go up 5-3 (Lucie gifted her the 53 game with two double faults and errors). Petra then blinked a bit…backed off with the power allowing Lucie to raise the ball more and hit some gorgeous dropshots, to win the final four games. This match was on court 11, the last court in the club. It should have been on a show court, it was a semifinal, or even center court. But center court seems to have only men’s matches. OK…there are more men than women by at least a 3/1 ratio but some women’s matches (and this was one) should be on center…and Lucie is Austrian!

The other match I watched was a 35s women’s match (on a show court) which was in the third set when I sat down. It was interesting as it was between a counterpuncher who slid beautifully and an aggressive baseline who occasionally went to net. Apparently, after I left, one of them injured an ankle (the blonde aggressive baseliner). It was either Katherina Jacob or Christine Kraupa. Scores aren’t posted, so obviously it was the loser of that match. (I’ll update with the winner later). Update: Kraupa won by retirement, so Jacob was the one who was injured (taken to the hospital).

American Bruce Barrett was upset in the quarters today. That match was next to the women’s 50 match, but other results aren’t posted yet.

I didn’t play a match today…the match which went unfinished yesterday turned into a default today as the Austrian player had a conflict. So actually the four seeds all reached the semis and I play the German Cornelia Keller while two lefties battle it out on the bottom half of the draw.
Draws are here.
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📂This entry was posted in Austria European Regional Championship Grade A Tournaments ITF ITF Tournaments Tennis 📎and tagged Austria Grade A itf ITF Grade A ITF Senior Tournaments ITF Seniors ITF Tournaments Lucie Schwab Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis
Practice Day in Warm and Sunny Austria

Posted on June 10, 2019 11:26 am by Carolyn Nichols Comment
While it’s raining in England….it was warm (upper 80s) and sunny on the “Austrian Riviera”, and it’s supposed to hit 90 by Friday.

I had a hit set up today at 11, but my practice partner strained something so I wandered down to the courts to see if I could find someone interested in hitting. I ran into Herbert Althaus who plays in the 85s, and he said his friend Werner needed a hit. Werner is the top seed in men’s 80s and is tall and walks very fast. The court I had been told was at the Leonstein courts up the road, but it turns out it was at the PTC (Poertschach Tennis Club) further up the hill abutting the railroad track (literally right next to the end of the courts). The court reservation had been made by a friend of the person I was supposed to hit with so there was initially a bit of confusion at the PTC as well, but it was soon sorted and we were hitting.

Werner isn’t super fast but he hits a good ball and we had a great hit. It was not only warm but a bit humid and I was soaked at the end.

I went to the store (Billa) to get lunch stuff and drinks (along with a lot of other people, it was pretty packed), and after lunch watched a bit of the match between Gundi Wieland and Ingrid Bruckner. I play the winner tomorrow which, as I expected, was Gundi. Both are lefties…there are a lot of lefties in this draw.

Overall it was a mellow day, really warm and lots of people were swimming in the lake. Or having a drink in the shade.

I play at 11:30 tomorrow (though looking at the schedule, I expect the tournament to be an hour behind schedule) and there’s a pretty good chance of thunderstorms all afternoon so I hope I get the match in without too much delay.

And that’s it for Poertschach today.

Draws are here.

PTC, Interesting Window, Babolat balls are heavy, door to go with the windows
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📂This entry was posted in Austria European Regional Championship Grade A Tournaments ITF ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Travel 📎and tagged Austria European Regional Championship Grade A itf ITF Seniors Leonstein Tennis Club Poertschach Poertschach am Worthersee Poertschach Tennis Club red clay Tennis tournaments
Werzer Cup Singles Champion

Posted on June 8, 2019 1:53 pm by Carolyn Nichols Comment
I didn’t get to catch much of the French Open today because I had three matches…but did catch Thiem’s third (and final) match point and the first five games of the women’s final..(congrats to Ash Barty!).

I played Sabine Schmitz today and it was a pretty good match, even at the beginning as Sabine is an attacking player who mixed up drop shots and approach shots effectively. As the match went on I countered better and won 62 61, but we had some good points and the range of my lobs (according to Sabine) was spot on (the lines).

After having a drink with Sabine I got ready for our 2:30 doubles match in women’s 50s. We won our first match 64 61 against a Dutch duo. It was no-ad scoring which always comes as a shock to me even though if’s quite common in Europe to play this format.

We agreed to play the final an hour later against Lucie Schwab and Valdone Povilioniene. Schwab is a very good player, a former world champion and once they got warmed up won a lot of points crossing and drop volleying. We had a chance in the first set but lost the 4-3 game, Valdone relaxed then and we lost 64 62. It was a fun match though, good points.

Top: Ellen, Lucie and Carolyn; bottom left, Sabine and me after the match; bottom right, me with the wine and trophy.

After doubles Valdone had to rush off to play mixed while Lucie, Ellen and I went to have a drink (ok, fizzy water for me), and had our photos taken.

Tomorrow I have a day off, practice on Monday and then start the next tournament on Tuesday where I will probably play Gundi Wieland first round.

Draws are here.
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📂This entry was posted in Austria Austria ITF ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis Travel Werzer Cup 📎and tagged Grade A itf ITF Seniors Poertschach Poertschach am Worthersee red clay Tennis tournaments Werzer Cup
King Van Nostrand Sweeps 85s; San Diegans Win 75 Doubles

Posted on June 7, 2019 9:24 am by Carolyn Nichols Comment
While in a rain delay during Thiem/Novack (and the Barty/Anisimova semi was…streaky).

I won my singles semis against Gundi Wieland from Germany. She beat the #3 seed yesterday; I won 60 60, though we had some good points. Gundi is the second straight lefty I’ve played and I practiced with a lefty most of last week…so it will be a bit weird playing a righty tomorrow! However, I warmed up with my doubles partner, Ellen Neumann who is in the 55s and a righty.

Ellen played an excellent match against Laura DiVittori who is the #2 seed in the 55s. When I started watching it was the beginning of the third set and there wasn’t much between the two of them…believe perhaps. Laura won 75 in the third set, rallying from 1-4 and 4-5 down. Lots of slices and drop shots and from Ellen, great drives, from DiVittori, high changeups at critical times.

King Van Nostrand beat his doubles partner, Herbert Althaus of Germany in the 85 singles final and then teamed with him to beat Hans Jell of Austria and Ashley from New Zealand. Ashely was really happy since they won 8 games. King is on his way home to Florida after this tournament.

Dave Van Den Berg and Karl Placek won the 75 doubles over Peter Pokorny and his partner, and they are off, Dave to Spain and Karl to his native Czech Republic. Karl lost his semifinal singles today.

Lisa Prechtel won her singles today and plays DiVittori in the 55 singles final.

Taras Beyko from Canada was playing again on Center Court and Germany’s Stephanie Kolar was on a side court playing W40.

Michel Bichon beat Heide Orth in the 75s in three sets but they are the top seeds next week, so may play again soon.

They are using Babolat Team balls (not available in the USA…and they come in a metal can!). 8 Euros for 3 balls or you can rent them with a 5 euro deposit. Needless to say we search for lost balls and on the warm up court there is a lot of foliage at the end and side of the court where balls go to hide. So far we’ve found them all.

Lake Worth, DiVittori, Neumann, Prechtel, Kolar, Beyko, W60, Sabine, Karl & Dave

one.

Draws are here.
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📂This entry was posted in Austria Austria Grade A Tournaments ITF ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis Travel Werzer Cup 📎and tagged Austria Grade A Heide Orth itf ITF Seniors King Van Nostrand Poertschach Poertschach am Worthersee red clay Sabine Schmitz seniors tennis Tennis tournaments Travel Werzer Cup
Last Practice Day

Posted on June 5, 2019 10:55 am by Carolyn Nichols Comment
While NOT watching the French Open….

Poertschach am Worthersee, Austria

Unlike Paris, where it rained all day, it was a warm, sunny day in Poertschach, and even a bit humid. I had a great hit with King Van Nostrand and then with Bruce Barrett, so hopefully I’m ready for my first round match tomorrow.

I did scout my opponent a bit. I play a lefty Austrian who is a good solid player, and hopefully we’ll have a good match tomorrow. I watched from the top of the Center Court bleachers and could see the Worthersee and the red clay court at the same time. They played on court 1, which on the weekend was nearly unplayable and covered with weeds. It still has issues (grass growing into the court making the sidelines narrow) but is playing much better.

Left: Heide Orth; Right: Shirley Friedl on Court 1

I also saw Heide Orth play a really nice match against a Swiss player who could move. Heide hits each shot with purpose (her backhand in particular is gorgeous) and won quite handily against a not bad player (she could move!)

The #4 seed, Karin Theeuwes of the Netherlands fell to an Austrian player, Inge Pils-Feichter in straight sets. Pils-Feichter won the Grade 2 last week in Klagenfurt and beat the person who is the #3 seed here so she’s obviously a good player.

My doubles partner, Ellen Neumann played a solid match in the 55s, scoring with several aces and some nice net play against her athletic opponent. She plays Laura DiVittori of Italy next in round robin play.

Dave Van Den Berg and Karl Placek who are from my club at home won their 75 doubles match. Placek, seeded 7th in men’s 75, plays singles tomorrow.

That’s it for today…waiting for the schedule to come out and there are still many matches on court.

Draws and schedule are here.

Previous blog posts:
- Poertschach, Austria…Planes, Trains and Tennis
- Practicing on the Dirt
- Werzer Cup: Hitting With a Legend
- Biking Around
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📂This entry was posted in Austria Austria Grade A Tournaments ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis Travel Werzer Cup 📎and tagged Austria Grade A Heide Orth itf ITF Seniors King Van Nostrand Poertschach Poertschach am Worthersee red clay seniors tennis Tennis tournaments Werzer Cup Worthersee
Practicing on the Dirt

Posted on June 2, 2019 9:57 am by Carolyn Nichols Comment
While everyone is glued to Tsitsipas/Wawrinka…practicing was going on here in Poertschach (Eurosport switched to cycling in the middle of the match but came back, only to go away to catch viewers up on the day’s events thus far…back for the 5th though!)

I hit with Heidi Eisterlehner from Germany today. Heidi hits a cracking ball, and we had a good hit. We played on a court lined for juniors (a 60 foot court) and it wasn’t easy. The lines are cloth and nailed into the court. And much more visible than the tape lines. The court was pretty bumpy. Apparently it rained a lot the last few weeks and the courts were neglected and got quite soft. It’s warm now, upper 70s, and dry so they should play better day by day.

The tournament going on here for young juniors has been interesting to watch. A lot of the players have apparently been taught to serve second serves underhand. Older kids are in the chairs calling all the lines (and doing an excellent job). Parents sit Courtside and encourage the kids and give them high fives, win or lose. They are all playing with orange balls.

In the afternoon I hit with American Bruce Barrett again…we were bumped by my potential first round opponent though, Shirley Friedl & Bruno Renoult, but got in a good hit before that happened.

They balls they are using here are Babolat Tour and I got a hold of a can today. They are a bit heavier than the Wilson US Open ball, and the courts are soft so one really has to get behind the ball and whack it to make it go anywhere. Dropshots could be very useful here.

I ran into the legend who is King Van Nostrand today. He won in Bournemouth, England and now is playing here for two weeks. He’s 85 and still hits a great ball. Though he’s only seeded #3, the other players should be very wary (actually, they all know he’s the best).

The draws and some times are finally online. I play my first match Thursday, the winner of a match played on Wednesday. Draws can be found here.

Poertschach, Austria…Planes, Trains and Tennis
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📂This entry was posted in Austria ITF ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Travel Werzer Cup 📎and tagged Austria Grade A itf ITF Seniors Poertschach am Worthersee red clay Tennis tournaments Werzer Cup
Poertschach, Austria…Planes, Trains and Tennis

Posted on June 1, 2019 12:35 pm by Carolyn Nichols Comment
Poertschach am Worthersee, Austria

Thursday and Friday were travel days…I left California around 11:30am Thursday and two planes and three trains later ended up in Poertschach (with a nine hour time change) at 9pm on Friday. I put my racquets in a Volkl backpack instead of a bigger racquet bag and since they were visible got a lot of questions about why I had three with me. (Answer basically is 18 gage string doesn’t last, particularly on red clay). A player from Vancouver (but a Czech native) was very interested in seniors tennis; the Americans from Charlotte, NC on the train to Salzburg with me also had questions. Tennis is more popular than I thought.

I had scheduled an 11am hitting session with Bruce Barrett from Florida. He won the 70 doubles at the worlds last year and I know him from a number of tournaments. He’s also a lefty. As it turned out I hit with three lefties last week and again today (twice) and will be playing with a righty (Heidi Eisterlehner) and Bruce tomorrow too. The draws were posted here and it turns out that I’m very likely to play a leftie first round, so my scheduling turned out to be a fortuitous accident.

Bruce and I hit at the main courts in Poertschach. There was a junior tournament for quite young players (they were using short courts and soft balls), and it was co-ed…lots of girls vs boys matches in singles and doubles. That meant the practice courts were limited. We hit on Court 1 which was in pretty iffy shape. Lots of weeds are growing on it and the lines are half buried under the dirt. We swept them and rolled one end, but the consistency of the bounces were more reminiscent of a grass court than a clay court…some balls rolled, some jumped up or sideways…or both! We practiced twice. Today was sunny, warm, dry and beautiful…lucky us, apparently it’s been raining here for nearly a week!

The tournament begins on Monday. I have a bye so don’t play before Tuesday. There are 14 players in the draw, and a number of good players. The woman I am likely to play first round was my final round opponent when I played her here several years ago.

All for now…I’ll add some more photos but I’ll leave you with this view or the Worthersee, and some photos of the planes, trains and scenery along the way.
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📂This entry was posted in Austria Grade A Tournaments ITF ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis Travel Werzer Cup 📎and tagged Austria Grade A itf ITF Seniors Poertschach am Worthersee red clay Tennis Werzer Cup
Practice Day

Posted on June 12, 2017 11:41 am by Carolyn Nichols 2 Comments
No one in the 60s had a match today, so I just practiced a bit and rested up for tomorrow.

I hit in the morning with Vladimir Etoj an Aussie who came from Russia. Tennis so international. I met Vladimir in Klosters, Switzerland several years ago at the 40th birthday party of another Aussie, Jurate Hardy who is Lithuanian (but a naturalized Aussie), and Jurate lives in London. Jurate is actually playing here too. Vladimir plays in the 55s and had a match, so we had a warm up, played some points, about an hour altogether. An hour later I hit for an hour with Marc Pepin from Canada. Tomorrow morning I’m hitting with Nora Blom from Netherlands, and I’m playing doubles with Heidi E from Germany. And it all feels pretty normal. I ran into an actual American player today, Bruce Barrett from Florida, Heide Orth from Germany, and a few other friends.

I wore new, white shoes today. I didn’t take a photo of the shoes before I hit (but here’s a photo from tennis warehouse europe) and next to it the photo of what they looked like after I hit for two hours! But now the top of the shoe sort of matches the orange trim…

I also went to the Billa, a local grocery store. Here are photos of just some of the jam and chocolate selections:

And here was the entire selection of salad dressings (though to be fair, there were many types of oil and vinegar…but I don’t have a kitchen this week):

I play singles tomorrow at 11am and am warming up at 7:30 with Nora. I play an unseeded Austrian player.

Draws:http://www.itftennis.com/seniors/tournaments/tournament/info.aspx?tournamentid=1100038774

Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/yBn489Bww8kg1f8u8
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📂This entry was posted in ITF Tournaments Poertschach am Worthersee Travel Werzer Cup 📎and tagged Austria Austrian Championships Grade A itf ITF Seniors Poertschach am Worthersee Tennis Werzer Cup

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