Thursday, May 1

Good morning NorCal,. Forgive me for missing a day. This second week has just been getting longer, but I can’t complain, because it means I’m doing well. As you may have read in Carolyn Nichols blog, Judy Newman lost a tough 3 setter against the # 1 seed, having a match point, in over 3 hours. She went back to her hotel, rested and came back for a mixed doubles match, and won. My day was long, too, playing singles, doubles and mixed, starting at 10:30am, and finishing at 7:30pm. Won my singles and women’s doubles match, but lost the mixed. Dinners have been late. 

I played a very nice lady from Italy, yesterday, at 11:30am. She was on the Team Cup for Italy, and I knew I was going to have a battle. The first game, I started down 15-40, caught up, and won it. We then battled the next 4 games with both of us having ads, but she would win them, and eventually the set, 6-1. I actually felt pretty good, and though I lost the set, I knew I still had a chance. I made some adjustments, and took the second set, 6-1. This set was a bit one sided, as I tried to move her around more, and felt she was getting tired. But, these set scores do not compare the points that we played, and the third set was definitely a grinder. We both started off holding, and just played each point so hard, with long  rally’s. as we got to 3-3, and I went up 4-3, I thought I could force her to make more errors, but the change overs seem to slow me down, and I would play a loose game. At 4-4, I played more aggressive, trying to keep her deep, because she had a lethal backhand, and drop shot, which made me change my shot direction, from my comfortable cross court backhand rally, to down the line. In order to do that, I really had to move my feet and set up quick. We were tied at 5-5, and this 11th game was long, with both of us having multiple opportunities to win it. I finally did, and at the change over, iced my legs, arms, and face, got up quick, and started moving around, to stay loose. I did not want to play more then this last game. The first point, again, was long, and I played my heart out. I just kept fighting for every rally, and won it. I think that she lost a little edge after that, and I won the game at love, and the set 7-5 in over 3 hours. We had a day off in doubles, so it was my only match, and I enjoyed the rest of the day, relaxing. 

Today, I play Brenda Foster, the # 1 seed, from Australia. She beat Judy Newman in the second round, 7-6 in the third, as i said earlier. I hope to get revenge for her. Judy and I are playing doubles with different partners in this event. She’s playing with our team Cup teammate, Vicki Buholz, Dallas, Texas. I’m playing with Anne Kerwin-Payne, Menlo Park, CA. We play in the afternoon, and Judy has mixed in the evening. Another long day. The best part, we are rooming together again. Her parents were here, watching and cheering us on, but leaving today. Wish us luck !!!!!

Update from Carolyn Nichols: Tracy won her QF match against Brenda Foster and the doubles was rained out.