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by Prip Elena Bovina and Andrea Glass were already deep into the match when I arrived at the court. The German had taken the first set 6-4, and was receiving serve in second at 4-all. The Russian at this point kept making unforced errors, and it looked like the match would be over soon. Andrea broke to go up 5-4, and the trainer who had been on standby for Elena asked if she needed medical attention. The resilient Russian said that she wanted to wait until the third set before getting treatment. The energy drink she had during the changeover certainly must have helped, as Elena came out on court looking as determined as she always does, and played inspired tennis, dropping only one point on the way to breaking back. The tall girl continues to amaze me with how much strength she has, and can turn things around from seemingly hopeless situations. Elena held serve comfortably, blasting everything: her serve, her groundies, her swinging volleys. She went up 6-5, and Andrea served to keep the match from going into the deciding set. The German went ahead on her service game, at which point Elena decided to take her time getting into position to receive serve. This had two effects: first, it succeeded in frustrating her opponent, and second, it gave her a bit of time to cool down and catch her breath. It turned out to be a smart move, and she got the break to take the set 7-5. The Russian finally had the trainer on court, who had to stretch and massage her hip and side. It might have been just a niggling injury that the youngster was worried might become crippling as the match went on, as she showed absolutely no signs of any discomfort at all. Of course, she is a very determined and focused young lady, and could very well have been putting up a brave front in the last few games. She didn't take very long with the medical time-out, and was soon back on court blasting the tennis balls. With sheer power, she can hit winners from defense, or at least turn from being on the defense to being the aggressor in the blink of an eye. As she blasted ball after ball over the net, I could only marvel at the amount of power this girl has, sort of like a younger Mirjana Lucic, only more consistent and patient. She also manages to get away with a rather late backswing. Andrea found herself down on her service game at 0-1 in the third, and suddenly started hitting very low slices at her opponent. That seemed to put a halt to the runaway train, and games went on serve. The Russian finally got the break to go up 4-2, and both players were fully pumped up by this time. Apparently, they weren't the only ones. Andrea's coach, who had been sitting at the outside corner of the court, had a problem with one of the Russian coaches who was sitting with Elena's coach, and came over to tell him about it. The argument got heated as the players went to the changeover, and the two nearly came to blows. The players did a good job of ignoring the commotion, though, and went on with the match. Tatiana Panova, who had been sitting with her compatriots from early in the match, had left for some reason when Elena took the medical time-out, and had returned later to a seat at the other half of the court. She looked on with a very amused look as the argument went on, and laughed at the display. Nothing like a little drama to keep the tour interesting. Elena held on to the break to serve the match out, after which the two guys had more to say to each other. Andrea was pretty quick to head to the locker room, disappointed with her loss. Elena looks set to reach the main draw, as she should come through against Alena Vaskova in the next round. |