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| 22 Jun 2001 | |
| The Road to Wimbledon |
The biggest surprise from Thames Ditton did not come in the shape of a tennis match but in the weather. The sun came out for the start of the grass court tournaments in England and has not stopped shining since!
This made for a great week in the run up to Wimbledon.
The ITF Touring Team made an exceptional showing, with three of the four singles final places being taken by team members.
In the boys singles ITF Team members Lamine Ouahab and Lionel Noviski both came through their respective semi-finals in straight sets. Ouahab, who is on a great run at the moment, having reached the semis at Roland Garros and seen his ranking jump from 409 to 13 since joining the ITF Team, beat Bart de Gier from the Netherlands. The first set was very close and eventually had to be decided on a tie-break which Ouahab won 7-4. However in the second set the Algerian stepped up a gear to win the match 76 61.
In the second semi-final Noviski managed to keep his cool against Australian Todd Reid who became increasingly frustrated throughout the match. Reid, who is never one to hide his feelings, threw himself to the ground several times and even broke a racket after a number of unforced errors. Noviski took his chances when they arose and emerged the victor 63 64.
In the final all thoughts of friendship had to be put aside for the two boys who have been travelling together for over a month. Again it appeared to be Noviski who handled the situation best to take the title 62 63.
In the girls singles, Anglelique Widjaja and Su-Wei Hsieh also had to forget they were playing a team mate in their semi-final. At 5-5 30-30 in the first set it looked like it could be a long match with both girls knowing the others game inside out. Only a couple of drop shots by Hsieh which Widjaja reached and put away separated the two at the end of the first set, which Widjaja took 7-5. Surprisingly Widjaja then seemed to run away with the second set, looking very accustomed to the English grass to win a place in the final 75 62.
Emily Webley-Smith performed way above expectation, coming through qualifying to keep home hopes alive right up to the semi-final. However it seems that all her matches, the last two being three setters, finally took their toll and she wasn’t able to keep pace with Australian Samantha Stosur who went through 61 63.
In the final Angelique Widjaja completed the double for the ITF Team defeating Stosur in straight sets 64 61.
Widjaja completed an excellent week and perfect preparation for the upcoming tournaments at Roehampton and Wimbledon by winning the doubles too. She teamed up with Melissa Torress from Mexico to beat the Australian/American pairing of Christina Horiatopoulos and Bethanie Mattek.
Bruno Echagaray and Santiago Gonzalez continued their dominance in the boys doubles. At No.1 in the ITF Doubles Rankings and seeded No.1 they proved far too strong for the rest of the field eventually beating Bart De Gier and Marcelo Melo in the final and taking the title for the loss of only one set all week. They are looking on course to pick up their second Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon to add to their Roland Garros crown.
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