A bright sunny day with temperatures in the upper 70s greeted players and fans alike on Sunday. It was a busy day of first and second round qualifying matches. The top players were already on the practice courts (Davenport with her coach on the Stadium court prior to the first matches of the day) and loads of other players (Martinez, Lucic, Frazier, Tarabini, Stevenson ) were checking out the tournament grounds at the Fairmount Scottsdale Princess. Your fair-skinned reporter is already packing the sun screen for this week after turning a brilliant shade of pink in just two matches! Here is the report.

This match was the first match up on the Grandstand Court. The Grandstand is a very intimate setting for tennis. At times, you almost feel like you can reach out and grab the ball in mid-air. The sounds about the court are also unique ranging from unique bird calls to housekeeping's vacuum cleaners in the nearby rooms.

A media tag around one's neck always draws some attention with eager fans. At times, I feel as if I am on game show with the number of questions I am asked about the players. But I am always happy to oblige. Of course, in qualifying rounds the questions mostly encompass the likes of "Who are these players?" When questioned about who the lanky blond taking the court was, I answered "Bacheva." "What's her first name?" followed. I responded "Lubomira." "Oh, that is an interesting name" to which I responded, "Just the girl next door…as long as you live in Bulgaria." I decided to stay out of an increasingly heated discussion between a husband and wife of which Far Eastern country Meilen Tu hailed from -- though I would have gladly offered that she was an American.

The match started off with Bacheva dominating Tu. Bacheva served first on the very sunny side of the court and held easily. The players switched sides (no changeover break after the first game these days) and Tu struggled with her serve throwing in a couple of double faults and hitting short balls that Bacheva easily put away. Bacheva pulled out to a 3-0, one break lead. Early on it became evident that Bacheva's strength was her forehand that she most likely tries to model after her one of her idols, Steffi Graf.

In the fourth game (and back on the shadier side of the court), Tu finally started connecting with her serve and ground strokes. The diminutive Tu (only 5'4") started getting a little more aggressive with her shots often moving into the court with each successive stroke. Tu ended the game with an ace that Bacheva immediately questioned and continued to talk with the umpire upon sitting down on the changeover. On her first serve of the next game, Bacheva once again questioned the line call. Clearly rattled, Bacheva dropped her serve and Tu got the set even at 3-3.

With each player taking turns at streaky tennis, Bacheva and Tu settled down and played some solid tennis for the remainder of the set. Not surprisingly, the set would be decided by a tiebreak. Both players dug in and were suddenly grunting with each stroke. With another qualifying round still to go to get into the main draw, the first set would be crucial for conserving some entry for their next match. The players were knotted at 4-4 in the tiebreak when Bacheva committed some costly unforced errors to bring Tu to set point. Bacheva's second serve allowed Tu to hit an angled backhand into the short court and give Tu the first set after nearly an hour on the court.

At 6', Bacheva's serve is a potent one and the Bulgarian started to show it off in the second set. However, it would be Tu's serve that would continue to give the American some problems once again in the second set. At 3-2, Tu would toss in two double faults and give Bacheva the first break of the second set. In disgust, Tu banged her racquet against the court. The break seemed to inspire Bacheva and she quickly one the first two points on her next service game. During this game, Tu would have to replace her racquet though she was never given a code violation. Down 5-2 but only one break, Tu's serve continued to abandon her. Bacheva took the second set in fairly easy fashion at 6-2.

Tu's fragile mental state continued into the start of the final set. Not unlike the first set, Bacheva cruised to a 3-0, one break lead. The match appeared to be heading to a speedy conclusion as more and more of Tu's shots were hitting the net are floating past the baseline. It was not if Tu was not trying, but she was clearly not playing the game that won her the first set and kept her in the early stages of the second set. She lost her next service game at love. With Bacheva serving for the match at 5-0 in the final set, Tu's game suddenly resurfaced.

Tu won her next service game at love to get on the board in the final set. Then, the tennis phenomena of the inability to "serve out a match" and "playing better when you are behind" both surfaced in the seventh game. Tu quickly moved out to a 0-30 lead on Bacheva's serve before the Bulgarian fought back to 30-30. A backhand volley at deuce that clipped the net and dribbled over to Bacheva's side would give Tu the opportunity for game point. That lucky shot made the crowd wonder if Tu could come back for the win. Tu would win the game to get on the board at 5-2. Tu's momentum would continue as she got to 40-0 on her next service game. She would squelch the lead allowing Bacheva to get back to deuce before taking the next two points for 5-3. Bacheva served for the match for a second time. An overhead smash and a mishit short ball that Tu could not get to gave Bacheva a 30-0 lead. Tu won the next point and then, once again, the "tennis gods" appeared to be on Tu's side as an overhead smash hit the tape and bounced over the net for 30-30. Bacheva however would not be denied and won the next two points giving her a 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3 victory.

After the gritty Bacheva vs. Tu match, I headed over to the Stadium Court to see the top-seeded qualifier, Sylvia Plischke face young American, Brie Rippner. Outside the barricades and with no good view of the court for the first several games, I could only gather that Plischke was not having any problems with Rippner. This was confirmed as I took my seat as the players returned to the court with Plischke out to a 3-0 lead.

Always curious to see what the next generation of Americans might be like, I was pretty disappointed at what I saw. Rippner just did not seem to know what to do. Plischke would be hitting serves that did not come off of Rippner's racquet. I knew Rippner was a hard-hitter, but her shots today seemed to be floating wildly long or even being mishit into the stands several times. A swinging volley by Ripper would even send Plischke ducking as it landed well behind the baseline. Worse yet, along with her game Rippner's body language and facial expressions seemed to be very casual. At the 5-0 changeover, Rippner glanced down at her watch and probably was not too surprised to see how quickly this match was getting away from her. Perhaps inspired by the elapsed time of the match, Rippner managed to break Plischke's serve to get in the match at 5-2. However, Rippner's next service game would be disastrous with a double fault and a return where she practically missed the ball on her backhand return.

Rippner's tennis did make an appearance in the second set, but it was also aided by Plischke's game dropping a notch. The first four games consisted of service breaks, before Rippner held for 3-2. Then the explanation I was waiting (and hoping) for surfaced. Rippner called for the trainer. The injury timeout consisted of Rippner's right foot being taped up heavily for what appeared to be blisters. While not glad to see Rippner face this problem, it surely explained why she was not moving to shots or even smiling when she was hitting some pretty ugly shots.

The foot taping however did not help the American. Once she returned to the court, her movement seemed even more tentative losing her next service game on a double fault. Her serve again would be hampered in her next, and ultimately final, service game where she was only able to squeak out one point on serve. Plischke would win the match (6-2, 6-3) on another serve that landed in Rippner's racquet and did not go any farther.

Rippner's unforced errors really did not give me a good chance to see Plischke's game. I was impressed with her ability to improvise on the court as well as her athletic appearance. The Austrian wore a tight fitting tank top that clearly displayed her off-court training. Plischke is very lean and quite muscular, though not the class of the Williams sisters. I would guess Plischke's body fat count must be in fractional numbers. Plischke, currently ranked #34, faces Lubomira Bacheva for a spot in the main draw on Monday morning.