Was there to see the Clisters-Vaidisova semifinal last night.
Saw Vaidisova heading out for practise as I was parking my car. She looks incredibly tall in person - like a giraffe walking. But very few knew who she was - and there was nobody following her.
Caught two practise sessions before the semifinal match started. These were the women's doubles seminfinal teams which played after the singles. One was on center court, Anna-Lena Groenefeld hitting against her doubles partner Meg Shaughnessy. Meg's coach Raj was there supervising the hitting. I was in the front (empty at that time) row straight in front of the baseline. Since the two switched sides eventually, I could see the speed of the ball at the baseline for both hitters. Impressive, but not awe-inspiring like the men's game. I have seen Andy Roddick and Agassi hit in an exo, and then you would say - it can't be possible. But what I saw yesterday looked very possible, and the major difference I noticed was how consistent they were, specially on the two-handed backhand. Serve and shot speed and spin were not all that impressive.
The other practise session was the second doubles team - Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur. Even got a thank you from Lisa after I tossed her a stray ball. The pace was quite different from the other team - slower and Lisa was slicing the ball on the backhand. She also practised some low dipping forehand topspin passing shots as Sam came to the net, and those were too good. Sam Stosur looks much smaller in person than on TV, and this was confirmed by another guy watching, so I wasn't the only one to think that. I didn't stay for the doubles match, but I saw today that they lost.
The Clisters-Vaidisova match was packed, and except for a moron who always shouted "Sharapova" for Vaidisova, and even got a few laughs till people got bored, was an OK experience.
Saw Vaidisova heading out for practise as I was parking my car. She looks incredibly tall in person - like a giraffe walking. But very few knew who she was - and there was nobody following her.
Caught two practise sessions before the semifinal match started. These were the women's doubles seminfinal teams which played after the singles. One was on center court, Anna-Lena Groenefeld hitting against her doubles partner Meg Shaughnessy. Meg's coach Raj was there supervising the hitting. I was in the front (empty at that time) row straight in front of the baseline. Since the two switched sides eventually, I could see the speed of the ball at the baseline for both hitters. Impressive, but not awe-inspiring like the men's game. I have seen Andy Roddick and Agassi hit in an exo, and then you would say - it can't be possible. But what I saw yesterday looked very possible, and the major difference I noticed was how consistent they were, specially on the two-handed backhand. Serve and shot speed and spin were not all that impressive.
The other practise session was the second doubles team - Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur. Even got a thank you from Lisa after I tossed her a stray ball. The pace was quite different from the other team - slower and Lisa was slicing the ball on the backhand. She also practised some low dipping forehand topspin passing shots as Sam came to the net, and those were too good. Sam Stosur looks much smaller in person than on TV, and this was confirmed by another guy watching, so I wasn't the only one to think that. I didn't stay for the doubles match, but I saw today that they lost.
The Clisters-Vaidisova match was packed, and except for a moron who always shouted "Sharapova" for Vaidisova, and even got a few laughs till people got bored, was an OK experience.
