"That wasn't pretty, I think both our movement conflicted which was a shame, as it makes it hard for the ref and doesn't look good for spectators."



"Suzie played a great game, she is a super player and displays an excellent presence on the court. Her pace was extremely hard for me to deal with, I hope she plays well in her next match."

Aisling Blake defeated Amelia Pittock 11-8 11-6 11-7 and now plays No.2 seed Natalie Grainger.

"I knew I had to play a patient game, Amelia volleys anything loose, so I knew I had to keep it off her racket and keep the ball tight and deep, as well as moving her around as much as possible.

"I was really happy to win in three and look forward to playing Natalie tomorrow."

Lauren Siddall defeated Karen Kronemeyer 11-3 11-8 11-6. Karen's style of play tonight was very hit and miss, there were some shots that were impossible for Lauren to retrieve yet alone read, but this resulted in far too many unforced errors as Karen was all out for going in short at the wrong time. Lauren did extremely well to ride the storm and keep to her patient game plan, so as long as Lauren kept the ball tight and was patient it was pretty much inevitable that Karen would make the mistake. Lauren now faces No. 3 seed Vanessa Atkinson.

"It was a strange and somewhat slow pace, I knew I had to keep it tight and off her racket, as she would go for so many shots which sometimes were hard to read. I knew I had to be patient and chase everything down."





"I felt I played well and really enjoyed the game, but today she played better."

Manuela Manetta defeated Alana Miller in the match of the tournament so far. This was always going to be a tough affair as these two have had many battles in the past. The first game was contested all the way to the wire as Alana took it 11-9, it was an extremely high paced first game with Alana controlling the T a lot more than Manuela, as well as controlling the pace of the match. Alan continued on from her match the previous night by taking a strong position on the T with punishing drives to the back followed up by aggressive and well timed volleys into the front. This continued in the second and from 5-5 Alana really took control and raced away to an 11-5 victory.

In the third, Manuela tried to change the pace of the rallies, slowing balls down and getting wider cross courts to take Alana off the T, this ploy worked and she took it 11-8. The fourth was the real battle, and it went to 10-10 where Alana had two match balls, these were saved by Manuela who eventually took the game 13-11.

Manuela really was starting to find her momentum and get comfortable with her game plan, slowing the pace down here and there as well as playing better weighted attacking lengths putting more pressure on Alana. Manuela seemed to suddenly find more time on the ball giving her more opportunities and options to put a tiring Alana under more and more pressure. She then took quick control of the fifth racing away to a 5-1 in no time at all, by this time the young Italian looked very relaxed and could see the winning post in sight and went on to take the final game 11-4.

"I felt frustrated in the first two games as I didn't feel as though I was playing the right game, I didn't feel relaxed which was probably why I was not playing the way I wanted to.

"When I slowed myself down and starting placing the ball better I felt more in control of the rallies. I am very happy to get through, especially after saving two match balls.



"I felt I played very well in the first two games, I pressurized her well on the backhand side waiting for the loose ball that I could chop in short. In the third and fourth she picked up the pace and I felt myself lose control of the rallies.

"I really put so much energy into the fourth, having two match balls that I couldn't close out left me very flat for the beginning of the fifth."

A Fine Function

Well done to the girls for introducing themselves at the function at the Casino after the matches one by one.

I know they would hate me for asking them to do this, but the members love this sort of thing, as they get to know the players personalities, and yes there were many jokers in the pack that created a lot of laughter by all present.

Aisling Blake gave us an impromptu demonstration of an Irish Gig, Vanessa Atkinson and Karen Kronemeyer did a double act. Suzie Pierrepont didn't need the steps to stand on that everyone else did to be seen! Dominique Lloyd Water remembered a 27-0 defeat to Fiona Geaves many years ago, now why would she want to do that?

A great night was had by all the Casino members, so a big thank you to the WISPA girls for being such great sports.