Eastbourne International Tennis, Day One Qualifiers

Saturday 19th June 2016
Devonshire Park, Eastbourne
Admission: Free
Order of Play Leaflet: Free
Programme: £5.00

Today I took in what has become my one annual taste of tennis, taking advantage of free entry to watch some professional tennis relatively on my doorstep. It is an event I always look forward to, being able to meander around the complex, taking in games that take my fancy, and being able to support some British players, with the added attraction this year of Laura Robson entering the tournament in the Qualifying stage again this year as she struggles to make her way back up the rankings following a long injury lay-off.

Much remained the same this year on the opening Saturday as in previous years - tickets were handed out by stewards just outside the main entrance, and the programme was of very good quality, 114 full colour, glossy pages and was a very interesting read on the main stars appearing at Eastbourne this year, although it inevitably was not of much use in terms of the actual tournament itself, and was completely irrelevant to today's action involving tennis' lesser lights, most of whom will consider it a considerable achievement just to make Monday's main draw.

For my first game of the day, I settle alongside Court Two to watch what looked like being an evenly matched encounter, with Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, ranked 56th in the WTA Rankings and third seed in today's qualifying competition, against the USA's Alison Riske, 81st in the rankings. Riske will surely be full of regret for Riske, who was unable to close sets out from very good positions. In the first set, she was 5-2 up, but then lost the next five games (without about a half hour break following a brief shower with the score at 5-5) to lose the first set 5-7. In the second set, she was 5-3 up, but again went on to lose, this time 6-7 (losing the tie-break 3-7), as Lucic-Baroni progressed 7-5, 7-6 after one hour and forty five minutes of play.

I then made my way to Court 3, for the final set between second qualifying seed, 53rd ranked Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, against 272nd ranked Maria Sanchez of the USA. The first set went as expected, with Kovinic winning 7-5, but Sanchez won the second set 6-3. And a shock soon developed, as Kovonic really lost her way as she got more and more frustrated after she lost her first service game, and after the subsequent games went to serve, Kovinic lost hers in the eighth game to lose the set, which lasted 45 minutes, 2-6.

I then made my way to a packed Court One for the highlight of today, with Laura Robson taking to the lawn. The partisan home crowd would certainly hope for a much stronger performance this year than last, when she was hammered in a performance that made spectators cringe, so out of her depth outclassed was she having just returned from her long term wrist injury. Again she was a Wildcard entrance to this tournament this year, currently ranked 308th. She was to be a massive underdog today, originally drawn to play ninth qualifying seed and 68th ranked Christina McHale. But late on, McHale withdrew from the tournament, and in her place, China's Yifan Xu would be the opposition, ranked 282nd. Robson's play still looked a little erratic at times, and this match turned out to be enjoyably even matched that could have gone either way. Robson's powerful shots and serves were to prove just too much for Xu, as she took the first set 7-5. Things threatened to sour for Robson in the second set though, as she lost her serve in the opening game, and at 1-2 down, she then received lengthy treatment with a plaster and then a bandage being applied to her thigh. Happily, those fears proved unfounded, as she broke Xu's serve in the next game, and after the following six games went to serve, then the next two against serve, the game went to a tie-break, which Robson won 7-4, to win the match, which lasted 1 hour 57 minutes, 7-5, 7-6. This was not a great performance by Robson, but she enjoyed what is these days a rare win, which she deserved for a gutsy performance.

For my final match of the day, I decided to stay on Court One, changing my view point to behind the line rather than along the side, to watch another Brit hoping to upset the odds to progress. The draw could not have been tougher for 18 year old Freya Christie, ranked 314th, against top qualifying seed and 43rd ranked Puerto Rican, Monica Puig. I was expecting a quick, one-sided match, but the reality was completely different, as Christie really impressed, matching Puig throughout the match which really could have gone either way. Every game in the opening set went to serve, but Puig edged the tie-break 7-5, to win the opening set 7-6. The second set was just as closely fought as the first, but with more service games being lost this time, and again with a little more fortune, Christie could easily have forced a third set as she rattled Puig at times. But in the end, Puig just edged the second set on a tie-break, winning 7-5 with an identical scoreline to the first game, to win the match 7-6, 7-6 after 2 hours and nine minutes. So a disappointing defeat for Christie, but she can be very proud to have come so, so close to causing a major upset. If she continues making progress, we Brits can be hopeful that Christie will hand a good future in the game, with time very much on her side.

This proved to be another enjoyable day at the tennis, albeit that the cool, damp conditions were more suited to football than tennis.

England Ladies 7 v 0 Serbia Ladies

Saturday 4th June 2016
UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 Qualifying Group 7
Adams Park, High Wycombe
Admission: £7.50
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 5,903
Match Rating: 4

With a very rare opportunity to watch a competitive game in June, I very much looked forward to supporting the national team’s efforts to reach the Euro 2017 finals next summer, as well as my first visit to Adams Park for over 15 years, for what will almost certainly be my last game of the season.

Adams Park is almost three miles from High Wycombe train station. Buses are laid on, although I decided to walk and take advantage of a view overlooking the stadium before the match. Set at the end of an industrial estate, there is actually much to look about this stadium, set in a valley resulting in scenic green rural views all around the ground. The main stand here is actually very small in comparison with the stand opposite. It is a single tiered, all-seater stand probably more at home in non league football, and is dwarfed by the two tier all-seater stand opposite, where I was seated today. Corporate boxes are sandwiched between the tiers. Behind one goal is a small covered terrace, which was not in use today save for having a TV broadcasting gantry positioned on it. Behind the other goal is the only new addition since my previous visit, now a larger all-seater stand usually allocated to away fans. The programme produced for today’s game was surprisingly good value, 52 pages in colour packed with more than enough interesting reading material and all the necessary stats

After England’s superb, brave effort in reaching the World Cup semi-final last year, they have found qualifying for next summer's Euro 2017 finals rather laborious, chiefly due to a chronic lack of goals. They are still favourites to claim the one automatic qualification spot from the group, as they went into this match in second place, four points behind leaders Belgium but with two games in hand and would win the group if they win their remaining four games in the group. So far, they have won three and drawn the other (at home to Belgium) of their four games so far. But apart from putting eight past pointless Estonia, they only scored one goal in their other three games, a drought that has led to England manager Mark Sampson shaking up his forward line, dropping the two star strikers, Eniola Aluko and Toni Duggan, from his squad for this match. Serbia are still in with a chance of claiming a top two berth, particularly if they could get the better of England in the double header against them today and in Serbia next week. They were in third place, with two wins and a draw from their four games, three points behind in England and seven points behind Belgium, but with two games in hand. It would be a tough ask for Serbia according to FIFA's World Rankings, with England ranked fourth best team in the world, with Serbia 45th.

On an overcast but warm afternoon, England would completely dominate this game from start to finish, with virtually all of the play throughout in Serbia’s half. Serbia just couldn’t deal with an England team who impressed with their impressive, inventive passing game, playing at a high tempo for most of the match. After hitting the post and seeing a free kick well saved, England took the lead on 15 minutes when the ball was threaded into the path of the onrunning Alex Greenwood and although her first touch seemed to make the angle for a shot on goal very tight, she still managed to shoot low across the keeper and just inside the far post. England came close to extending their lead several times before they did on 34 minutes. They were awarded a penalty for a shove on Ellen White as she was running away from goal along the by-line, and Karen Carney despatched the spot kick into the bottom left corner. The result was put beyond all doubt three minutes before half time. A Serbia defender could only weakly clear the ball from the six yard line, falling at the feet of White, and she passed to debutant Rachel Daly, who stroked the ball home.

The second half started in the same vein, and after coming close a couple more times, England scored their fourth on 51 minutes. An initial shot on the volley was blocked by a defender, but she couldn’t clear the ball and White managed to win the ball before firing into the net. Just a minute later and Isobel Christiansen made it five. The ball dropped to Carney at the edge of the area and her shot on goal took a deflection into the path of Christiansen, who struck the ball home first time. After seeing a header cleared off the line, England made it six on the hour mark, Carney bundling the ball in from a corner, and Carney completed her hat-trick on 64 minutes with another rather fortunate goal, a defender miscuing her clearance from a corner allowing Carney to volley the ball into the net from close range. At that stage, double figures looked on the cards, but England took their foot off the gas for the remaining 25 minutes, much to Serbia's relief, although England did have a shot blocked deep into added on time.

So a clinical performance by England today, and one could sense they wanted to put on a commanding, dominant performance, but credit to Serbia for continuing to battle fairly without letting frustration result in dirty play - they were simply massively outclassed today. Unfortunately for them, the two teams meet again in Serbia on Tuesday. It looks certain that the automatic qualification spot will come down to the last group game in Belgium, with probably England just needing to avoid defeat to claim it.

March highlights can be viewed by clicking here