Stella reporting from Charleston. Thanks.

STELLA

STELLA EARNS WALL OF FAME LISTING.

Tennis Planet Sign at a WTA event.

Here I am with my very home-made Tennis Plaanet sign in Charleston at the FCC.
WOF or mention please ?????--- felt a real idiot doing it --- not my style at all--- but I did give a shout out about the Planet to quite a few people who asked.

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac146/stellajim/Tennis%20Planet%20sign%20at%20Charleston/?albumview=slideshow

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Charleston Day 3.

Today was the warmest day so far and after 8 hours in the full sun I'm tired and burnt --- and I didn't play a point. We were supposed to be in the 3rd row in the section above the boxes but as the seats in the rows in front of us were empty we moved to the front row, centre baseline and stayed there all day. I believe these front rows are sold to people who buy a week long package --- and almost all don't show up until the weekend. That was fine by me . It was a long day in the stadium as matches were far more evenly contested. Wirst we saw Wickmeyer. It was a straight set win for her but she had to work hard for it. Her opponent had some lovely hard , flat groundstrokes but just came up short. Interestingly enough, of the 8 women playing on the stadium today Wickmayer was the only one who made any noise at all-- a grunt/ yell that sounds like she shout Oh Man as she breathes in and exhales. Next up was Wozniacki and Barbora ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA. This match lasted forever and went to 2 tiebreaks. In both tiebreaks Z.S had set point on her racket if she could put the ball away into an open court. Both time she missed. I've decided that Woz is the least interesting No 1 I've ever watched. She seems very nice and is steady and very fast. But, her game is all the same . All the serves come in at similar rate. All ground strokes are moderate pace and 99% are topspin. On the other hand Z S had excellent variety. While Woz has no net game and no transition game Z S could serve and volley with success and won a lot of points with her variety. Next up was defending Champion Stosur. By then it was 4pm and the stadium was still fairly full . She was playing Vesnina who was overwhelmed by the Stosur power and kick and soon fell behind 3-1. Then she got the hang of it, Stosur became error prone and seemed to have no plan B and won only 2 more games, falling to Vesnina 4-6 1-6. The last Stadium match was Mirza, a qualifier against Lisicki, a former winner and WC. Almost everyone had gone by this time and we went too, to watch some excellent doubles on the outside court. At 7pm we set off for home, worn out and needing some aloe vera gel. Maybe I'll find some photos to put on tomorrow but that was our FCC experience. From here we watch on TV.

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FCC Charleston Day 2.

Today we spent most of our time in the main stadium with a quick interlude on an outside court to see Daniela Hantuchova.
It was hotter and sunnier so we were glad to have stadium seats where the sun was behind us. We were directly behind the baseline , right beside where the TV camera is.

It was billed as a day of champions and the four matches featured Petrova, Wozniacki, Stosur and Jankovic. Of course this was second round so the opponents really didn't make a dent in the games of the hotshots. Tomorrow the seeds start to meet so the competition should be tougher. 
We're sunburnt and tired and although we'd ha

ve liked to watch a doubles with Raymond and Huber it probably wasn't going to come on court till at least 8.30 and by then we would have been 12.5 hours at the courts --- and the bugs were starting to bite too.

 

Haven't seen tomorrow's line up yet. Looking forward to it

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Stella's Charleston Blog. Day 1.

 

Drove a long way for this and when t

he players list was announced I was disappointed. Top seeds are Wozniacki, Stosur, Jankovic and Bartoli. I'd hoped to see Clijsters and some of the new hotshots such as Kvitova and Petkovic but it was not to be. As always this tournament comes directly after IW and Miami and players are either tired or headed off to Europe.

Well, today at 5am we were awakened with torrential rain, thunder and lightning. The tournament website said play would start at 12 and so we got there at 11.45, sat down and play began. Within an hour it was sunny and warm and stayed thast way. We had grounds passes today so could not enter the main stadium but could sit anywhere on the other 3 play courts. We began with Jelena Dokic . Boy, can that girl hit a hard, flat shot. As hard as I've seen anywhere. We were at the side of the court about 10 feet away and the speed that the ball went from one end to the other and the low net clearance were uber impressive. Unfortunately Dokic had too many errors. Then we went in search of lunch and on the way to the food tent found Jankovic practising groundstrokes and having a fine giggle on one practice court and right beside her were Wozniaki and her Dad. Woz was practising her serve plus the next shot and then she went on to try forehand drop shots. Then we had lunch. As with most places you are not allowed to bring your own food but the stuff they serve is all carbs, fat and salt--- no fruit available or salad without a lot of dressing. We had a pulled pork sandwich as it's a SC speciality and there was enough salt in it to kill a horse. Then we moved on to watch Daniela Hantuchova who was cruising till she let it get complicated. Always a beauty and all the males in the crowd were not disappointed.We sat at the back of the court for this one, about 10 feet behind the baseline . It felt just like we were playing it ourselves .After a bit of wandering we came across Raymond and Huber practising. Their drill seemed to involve hitting the ball as hard as possible while getting closer and closer to the net till one of them hit a volley. Very dangerous stuff. We settled to see Zheng play Wickmayer. It had originally been supposed to be last match on the main stadium but as things were running late we benefitted as it was moved to an outer court. Zheng ran and ran and retrieved with amazing skill but was eventually blown off the court by wickmayer who was really impressive. We put in a brief appearance at Vania King against Sania Mirza but left after the first set as we were tired. All that running around can do it to you!!!
Tomorrow we have stadium seats, just behind the baseline, 3rd row above the boxes. Hope there's no one in front of us as we'll just move to the front. First up is Petrova and then we get Woz, followed by Stosur and JJ. Altogether an excellent day and even better to come tomorrow 
Here are some photos 

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac146/stellajim/Family%20Circle%20Cup%202011%20tuesday/?albumview=slideshow

 

 

 

Comments

[Jenny]

Thank you and for the great photos, Stella. Enjoy!

[banti]

Enjoyed the read.

[chipnputt]

Thanks Stella.

[Bettyjane]

Most enjoyable, thanks!! (Stella they probably deliberately oversalt the pulled pork to make you buy overpriced sodas---the bastards)

[Stella]

today went to the Subway that is just by the main entrance --- just as quick to go there as to eat at the foodcourt. They had a staff making those subs so fast it made your head spin as when the stadiun match ended they were swamped

[Sol]

Thank you, Stella.
Sounds like you're having fun.
And great pics.
I've seen Wickmayer play in Zurich and I know what you mean about the speed of the balls. She's impressive.
Enjoy!

[Xeres]

Great work Stella ! Keep 'em coming and loved the photos.

[Xeres]

Loved your home made TP poster too ! TP this definitely calls for a WOF. I cast my vote ! Anyone else with me ?

[Sol]

Hey, I didn't see the banner the first time I looked at the pictures!
Good job, Stella. You have my vote too!

[Dee]

WOW! Thanks Stella,Thankyou really
for taking the time. Love those behind the scene
action.Enjoy and stay healthy.
Plenty of water!!!!!!

[banti]

Loving the poster as well, Stella is all over the that WOF already but surely she deserves more recognition for this:)

[DSG]

I LOVED reading this, Stella--- it was like being there. Thank you.

I agree with Xeres about the WOF for Stella.

[Raj]

I too lend my support for the WOF nomination.

[RafaFan]

Congrats Stella for the WoF listing! Well deserved! Thank you for the pictures and your reports! Have fun!

[DSG]

Yes-as RafaFan said, well deserved, Stella!

[Jenny]

Seconded, well deserved, Stella!

[Jenny]

LOL Stella and the TP sign - great atuff!

[Jenny]

Sorry..'stuff', That must have been a Freudian slip!

[Clifford]

Well done, Stella!
I know it feels kind of silly to hold up a sign and have people take your picture in a very public setting, but we really appreciate it! Thanks for the updates, too.

[M]

I vote that from now on, Stella should blog along with Sasha. :-D

Love those photos. Along with the great athleticism, they seem to capture how the ladies seem to pick their fashionable colors for the season (did anyone else notice how many were wearing the green/blue combination?).

Thank you so much, Stella - so much fun! Hope a good time is being had by all!

[Stella]

@M-- yes there are some great fashionable outfits. Form fitting to show off the great bods but also a lot of brights and neons. Woz in neon orange and navy ( at least those weird ruffles are gone ) Z Strychova yesterday in purple, Hantuchova in the Adidas in purple/blue/green that Ivanovic wears too , Wickmeyer in bright pink with pink sparkly earrings, and of course Petrova in that dreadful frilly concoction that apparently she hates and never asked for.
I looked in the tournament shop and all the latest clothes are there but the sizes ???? Unless you are a size small or XS and at least 5'8" there was nothing.Nothing seems designed for a club player who is a size 12 or 14. It was interesting looking around the crowd over the past 3 days. Mostly women in southern style clothing ( ie lots of sequins and sparkle and bright colours ) but normal body shape . Hardly anyone that you'd call fat but also hardly anyone with the body of a pro tennis player either. The only large person I spotted was the fellow who sat near us to operate the TV camera. Yet, we called into Walmart for supplies on the way home and amid the shoppers there we felt like skinny midgets

[Ricke]

Thanks for all the updates Stella! Love the PICS! Enjoy the tournament.

[Dee]

Hi Stella, I was watching Caroline and
Wickmayer match. All through the match
I was scanning the stadium to spot you.
But the glare of Caroine's top blinded me
so I couldn't.Hehe!