Hi all. I'm jumping onto the board to write about the San Francisco Tennis Classic, a second-tier WTA event, since I know there are some Angela Haynes fans on here.
Yesterday I played hooky from work and went with a fellow tennis-junkie friend to the Golden Gateway Swim & Tennis Club to see some matches -- if you live in the Bay Area, you should check it out, it's free, through Sunday. I arrived just in time to watch the second and final set of Haynes's loss to Vania King, a young player who looks promising. (She did well at the US Open this year.) Haynes definitely had the bigger game, but King stayed consistent.
I know a second-round loss at an event like this isn't promising. But one thing I admired about Haynes was her willingness to hit for the lines on big points. Another thing to admire is that great do-rag look she's got going on -- she was sporting matching beautiful shades of blue. I was kind of surprised she was playing, as I'd read that her brother recently died in a motorcycle crash. That has to be terrible to deal with, and she definitely had a melancholy air about her.
The next match was Rosanna de los Rios vs. Diana Ospina. I knew nothing about either player, but the set that I caught was mighty entertaining, with long rallies and hard hitting up through a 10-8 tiebreak. It's crazy, and kinda grim, how these players are scrapping to even be in the top 250. Ospina does a variation on the Seles grunt, while the topspinning de los Rios (who was ranked high three or four years ago) definitely has some diva in her, swearing in a couple of languages. She also had some nice Paraguayan arm candy watching courtside.
I'm hoping to check out some of the tournament this weekend, so if anyone cares, I'll post more. It's a pleasure to read this board -- and ltskinmdterp, keep reppin' for Nadal!