[Complete draw]

Monte Carlo Classic week on the French Riviera was punctuated by an uncharacteristically grey day outside, and inside the Stade Louis II the top seeds were not all sparkling brightly either at the 11th staging of the championship.

The four players who had survived the long and exciting final qualification matches the previous evening had their names listed in the first round draw, but one would get on the quarter finals schedule.

Canadian Runa Reta was the first of the quartet put to the sword. Her opponent was Madeline Perry, the third seed and losing finalist last year. Perry had acquitted herself fully by making the last eight of the World Open in Belfast despite the intense pressure of being the home player. Now she could relax and this was very clear as she flowed comfortably through.

Reta had started well, perhaps benefiting from her two previous matches on the glass back with one glass side wall court, but as Perry’s length improved so did her points tally.

‘Once Madeline got used to the court she kept me tight to the back and I tried to play at her pace, which was a pretty bad idea’ commented the Canadian who was watched by her vacationing parents.

Tegwen Malik put forth a strong performance upsetting Jenny Duncalf... (photo © 2006 WISPA)

Samantha Teran was fairly comfortably despatched by Natalie Grinham. The Pan American champion is a battler, and is certainly moving inexorably up the rankings again now that she is clear of injury, but the variations and accuracy of Grinham left her floundering too often to contemplate racking up a selection of points. However, once she got started, she chased all over the court at a speed that can only be matched by a gringo after eating a whole enchilada for the first time!

Comments spilled from the Mexican afterwards. “I didn’t know how to play first of all and I tried long rallies but she attacked me. Then I tried to attack her but it was no good either. I said the third game was my last chance to do something but even as she made a few mistakes her game makes it very difficult.

I enjoyed it so much to play with Nicol in Belfast and now Natalie. I have learned so much and I am happy that my ranking is higher now and I can play with these players more to help me improve”

After her 95 minute victory over Nicolette Fernandes the previous evening it may not have been surprising that Italian Manuela Manetta bowed out too. However, no way did she do so tamely. Isabelle Stoehr was made to fight all the way in her 44 minute win. After the match Manetta reckoned that she may have been lacking the extra push that would have given her a chance but she was competitive.

“I just want to train well now for a month in Italy and start again at events in January. Since September I have been getting better results, been in my first final and yesterday was a good result so I have good hopes for next year”, Manetta explained.

Which left Sarah Kippax. The 23 year old English player had a reasonably comfortable passage into the main draw, and although seventh seed Annelize Naude has not been in the best form of late, an upset was not thought likely. However the lithe Dutchwoman has been unable to exert control nor seem quite so sharp recently. Kippax maintained a steady rhythm while Naude lost hers. She saved a game ball in the first before moving onto setting, saving another and winning while Naude fumed at the decision that lost her the final point. For a while it seemed that greater experience would bring the new Amsterdammer back, but soon the shots were looser again and Kippax was picking up the pieces and the ranking points while her opponent exited the venue in a despairing rush.

... Sarah Kippax upset Annelize Naude... (photo © 2006 WISPA)

Sixth seed Engy Kheirallah was hoping to demonstrate that her neck was operating properly again without pain by dealing with Lauren Briggs, an athletic opponent known for her plucky performances. Briggs didn’t stop pushing but was so at odds with her game that there was no threat to the Egyptian. She had played what she characterised as the worst for months, couldn’t explain why and summed up her evening with an expletive!

Another of the matches featured a player who was initially a qualifier as Jaclyn Hawkes was elevated to the main draw following the withdrawal of Laura Lengthorn a few days earlier after she turned her ankle and it lost its load bearing capability. The Kiwi was game enough but the weight of shot and the accuracy of fifth seeded Alison Waters was more than she can handle at this stage of her development. She did however manage to snatch the first game while Waters settled, but  then found herself being moved around as the English fifth seed mixed up her game more.

Afterwards Waters confirmed that she had changed her game to cope with the lively ball. “When I slowed it down and went short as well as long it got better” she sid. “I was pleased to get it back as Jackie was playing and moving well”

Welsh number one Tegwen Malik, must have been hoping to expose the recent frailties of Jenny Duncalf, but not expecting them to be quite so evident. For a little while the former European junior champion has been suffering from what may be most easily summed up as a crisis of confidence.

Errors showered from the Duncalf racket and a regroup is needed. Malik, who is now in a quarter of a draw bereft of seeds and with her or Kippax a win away from the semis. But while that thought will come to the fore for Malik, after the match her mind was with her opponent. “I know Jenny can do so much better and while it is a bad patch that she is in now she is too good not to come through again” she said.

The final match saw England’s Dominique Lloyd-Walter try to dent the defences of top seed Vanessa Atkinson. The English player actually came close to doing more than just make an impression. She was matching the Classic title holder and level at game all when her momentum slowly dissipated. “I have had a cold for the last couple of days and I wasn’t even sure I would be able to play” she snuffled. “ After the second I felt my lungs tightening and that was it”.

“I learned from the match we played in Belfast and though I didn’t win I had a game plan and was pleased to be hitting at the right pace” she concluded.

Atkinson, meanwhile was simply relieved not to be another fallen seed.

The remaining big guns will be firing for a final four Monte Carlo Classic berth tomorrow, while two pistols hope that they will shoot forward to the semis in their match!  

11th MONTE CARLO CLASSIC   [Draw]
MONACO RESULTS
ROUND 1

Vanessa Atkinson (Ned) (1)  bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter (Eng) 9/6 3/9 9/2 9/2 (47m)
Engy Kheirallah (Egy) (6) bt Lauren Briggs (Eng) 9/1 9/7 9/4 (40m)
Madeline Perry (Irl) (3) bt Runa Reta (Can) 9/6 9/0 9/0 (26m)
Alison Waters (Eng) (5) bt Jaclyn Hawkes (Nzl)  7/9 9/3 9/2 9/0 (43m)
Sarah Kippax (Eng) bt Annelize Naude (Ned) (7) 10/9 2/9 9/5 9/0 (46m)
Tegwen Malik (Wal) bt Jenny Duncalf (Eng) (4) 9/3 9/3 9/0 (27m)
Isabelle Stoehr (Fra) (8)  bt Manuela Manetta (Ita) 9/7 9/4 9/7 (44m) 
Natalie Grinham (Aus) (2) bt Samantha Teran (Mex) 9/1 9/0 9/2 (21m)

... Engy Kheirallah celebrated her birthday with her competitors, and returns to face Vanessa Atkinson tomorrow ... (photo © 2006 WISPA)