Game one was well
contested with probing rallies, both players adjusting to the glass
court with ease. The difference was Raneem's length being better,
forcing Wern to play more defensively out of the back corners, which
opened up opportunities for the tricky Egyptian. In the middle of game
two, Raneem hit her stride and started to control most of the rallies
with solid movement and racquet work, often leaving Wern flat-footed.
Wern pushed back in game three, but it was not enough to put the final
result in doubt.
Joelle King (NZL) def. Emma Beddoes (ENG) 11-3, 10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 11-2 (74 min)
King's glass court
game was working from the start, hitting with depth that exposed Emma's
movement to the front, and volleying with precision to take game one.
Beddoes adjusted quickly, making King put in a lot more effort to try
to stay in control in game two. In fact, Beddoes started applying
her own pressure and went up 7-3, only to have King run away with seven
straight rallies with aggressive shot-making. Beddoes saved three
game-balls to bring 10-10, and then took it 12-10. With both players
now on the board, the pace and tenacity went up, each fighting to get
to the ball and keep it away from the other. With the ball being
a little deader now, it seemed to suite King, scrapping her way to take
the majority of the rallies. In the fourth, King looked like she could
see the finish line, not letting up at all, and closing the
increasingly short rallies. Beddoes fought back to hold two
game-balls at 10-8, and was then hit in the mouth with King's backhand
followthrough at 9-10, causing bleeding. It took less than ten
minutes to stop the bleeding, and after several lets, Beddoes closed
the game 11-9. Game fives are hard to predict. Joelle applied
pressure with very good shots and didn't make errors when it counted
most. It was quite a tournament for Emma Beddoes, coming through two
tough qualifying matches, knocking out a world #7, and almost beating
world #5.
After a tentative
opening, Camille started to pull away with relentless pace and
precision. Waters didn't do anything wrong, but ultimately tinned
several balls while attempting to change things. Waters started to hunt
the volley more in two, and reduced her errors, which evened the
play. At 9-9, it was anybody's game. Alison hit a nick and
a tin - 10-10. Two winning drops - 11-11. Crosscourt
winner, nick 12-12. Winning drop from Camille, tin from Alison -
Camille is up two games to love. Play was also even in the third to
6-6, Alison wining in the front and Camille in the back in long, tiring
rallies. Camille then pulled out several back and front-court
winners in quick succession to take the match.
Laura Massaro (ENG) def. Annie Au (HKG) 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-7 (51 min)
Annie started more
conventionally today, hitting more drives in the first rally than in
last night's match. Still, Annie's power of misdirection is
unequalled. Nothing in it at 8-8…Annie hits unreachable boast,
unreachable straight drive, and another unreachable boast.
Laura made it difficult in the second by hitting width, length, pace,
and winners herself, keep Annie off guard as well. This, combined
with a few more errors from Annie gave Laura a lead 9-6, and she
converted at 11-8. Massaro also gained advantage in keeping a
significant amount of play on the right wall - Au's backhand, and we
saw a lot of backhand lobs from Annie. Even at 8-8, Au hits drop
winner and drive winner, 10-8. Laura wins four in a row, and
leads 2-1 in games. If Annie was going to beat Laura today, she would
have to do it from difficult positions. And from 7-7, Laura made
it too difficult for Annie to work her magic.
