So close Daniela. Im really happy to have watched your match. Made my day. Thankyou.

Welldone to Kleybanova for coming through.

I hope one day Daniela will completely recover her capacities. But maybe she has to wait again before playing other tournaments. She seems to need a long period without playing again.
But to recover, to get her confidence back she needs to play. She said that she didn't feel pain, but obviously it's still in her subconsciousness. To get rid of doubts she needs matches and practice. From my long time tennis observations it takes approximately 4-5 tournaments before players find the old form after coming back from a long time lay off caused by injury. Some players need less tournaments, some more, but I expect 4-5 tournaments before Daniela is back 100%.
Of course only if she really is healthy. If not then continue the treatment.

Hey guys,

I was at Daniela's match today. I had a great view of the court and these are the points I would like to make:

1. The most disappointing thing about today was the fact that Daniela seemed to go on the court already defeated. She was very down from the first point. She is obviously still worried and upset about her foot but she could have least pretended to be revved up for the match. I felt this gave Key belief right from the start. It was only until the middle of the 2nd set when Kley's form went down that sDaniela started to believe. But that disappeared when she missed opportunties to break in the 3rd game of the 3rd set.

2. Daniela's movement today was much worse than 2 days ago against Errani. Daniela seemed almost to be too lightfooted on the ground, there was no drive off from the ground on her groundstrokes resulting in many balls travelling at a relatively weak speed, coming up short which i also think is down to her injury. When she tried to go for her shots, she couldn't find the balance resulting in balls going long. Kleybanova has a very good serve and it was on form for most of the match.

3. I think a big mistake of Daniela's was to take a toilet break after the 2nd set. Daniela at that point had the momentum in her favour. She had finally gotten into the match and seemed more confident. When she came back from the toilet she seemed cold and rusty again, like the 1st set. Why take a toilet break when your winning? Even if she did actually need the toilet she could have waited till half way through the set.

4. Kleybanova went for her shots and like Dechy said about Ivanovic "made her own luck by going for it". Daniela was too tentative (im sure through lack of match practice and the worry of the injury) and not one net cord went in her favour.

5. The conditions in the final set were very difficult. The weather reminded me of last years 1st set against Srebotnik in the 3rd round 2007. The wind and overcast conditions did not help Daniela at all.

6. Overall I hope Daniela is not too tough on herself for this loss. She managed to win one match after almost 3 months away from the game. I actually think that Errani has much more to her game than Kleybanova. kleybanova reminds me alot of Bartoli - just hits - no variety. However, variety is what lacked from Daniela;s performance today for she did not exploit Kely's average movement skills. There were hardly any angles and i don't recall a single drop shot or - she played into Kely's hands.


Hope this gives you a feel for what it was like to watch Daniela today. The crowd were so supportive of Daniela - it is was virtually silent when Kleybanova won.

Thanks Chungwit - i like you comments too! Daniela had virtually packed away her stuff before the change of ends anyway so she was very quick to leave the court. Kleybanova's reaction to winning was actually quite subdued considering. There was also no foul play from Kleybanova throughout, I think she has a good attitude. I see her beating Sugiyama in straights,

All in all i went to wimbledon on tuesday and thursday and they were two of the most amazing days of my life.

Some kids were pestering Roddick for autographs today near the practice courts and they were being really loud and shouting "Roddick can i kiss your hat!"...Roddick told them off and said "can you quiet it down, players are trying to practice!" - That was quite funny!

Nicole Vaidisova was doing an autograph session and she seemed really happy and bubbly for once.

It seems all the female tennis players' mums go round picking up balls whilst their daughters practice...I didn't see Daniela practice once - and i visited quite a lot, but maybe she was on the courts at the back.

Serena got shoved in the face by accident by a member of the crowd as she left her late night doubles match tonight. Richard Williams was in buoyant mood.

I'll try and remember other things over the course of the next few days!

Saw Vera Dushevina on the practice courts and she is so tall!!! Didn't think she was!

Good point Martin! My predicted 4th rounders are now as follows:

Ivanovic(1) vs Szavay(15)
Dellacqua vs Chavetadze (8)
Kuznetsova(4) vs A.Radwanska(14)
Bartoli(11) vs Serena(6)

Dementieva(5) vs Safina(9)
Azarenka(16) vs Kudryavtseva
Venus (7) vs Kleybanova
Tanasugarn vs Jankovic(2)

Of all the players I've seen Jankovic and Safina were the most impressive.

One big concern for me was that at 3-3 in the first, Kleybanova hit a shot that wrong footed Daniela and as she turned, she pressed down on her heel and she grimaced and for the games afterwards Daniela's movement and game really seemed limited, so I really hope that she didn't do any damage there. For me, it's a good tournament if Daniela's healthy and continues to recover; it's been a bad tournament if she's aggravated her heel. I just hope for good news on that front.

i share you thoughts

I hope one day Daniela will completely recover her capacities. But maybe she has to wait again before playing other tournaments. She seems to need a long period without playing again.
But to recover, to get her confidence back she needs to play. She said that she didn't feel pain, but obviously it's still in her subconsciousness. To get rid of doubts she needs matches and practice. From my long time tennis observations it takes approximately 4-5 tournaments before players find the old form after coming back from a long time lay off caused by injury. Some players need less tournaments, some more, but I expect 4-5 tournaments before Daniela is back 100%.
Of course only if she really is healthy. If not then continue the treatment.

totally agree
thanks eddy for you report.

Results - Friday 27th June

Singles 3rd Round:
(WC) Zheng Jie (CHN) bt. (1) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 6-1 6-4, (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) bt. (Q) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 6-2 6-4, (6) Serena Williams (USA) bt. (29) Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) 7-6(5) 6-1, (8) Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) bt. Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 6-4 6-3, Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt. (11) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 6-4 6-1, (14) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) bt. (Q) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-3 6-2, (15) Agnes Szavay (HUN) bt. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 7-6(5) 2-6 6-2, (18) Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) bt. Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 6-2 6-4

Seeds Knocked Out Today:
Ana Ivanovic (1)
Marion Bartoli (11)
Amelie Mauresmo (29)