Day One: Monday 11th April 2005
First Round

To open the tournament the Aussie no 1, Prue McCahey took the court against the qualifier Sheilagh Owens. Sheilagh having overcome Julie Davies in the qualifying rounds maintained her form and battled like a Saxon in her quest to cause an upset to the no 3 seed. Prue played her traditional cut stroke game with great effect, hitting some stunning returns to a great length and leaving her opponent wandering what to do next. Sheilagh used all her wily expertise (that she is well known for!) and made Prue work hard for her points. The first set went to Prue 6-1 and she continued her excellent length and precision to take the match 6-1 in the second.

Match 2 consisted of the young Aussie, Xanthe Ranger - who has been taking advantage of having some rather useful coaching experience very close to home - against Catherine Walker, one of the talents from the UK. This was always going to be nip and tuck, and it brought many a bottom to the dedans! The first 2 games took 12 minutes to complete, encountering 9 deuces in all! It looked like a pattern was emerging as 1-1, was followed by 2-2, 3-3. Then Catherine began to take command with some stunning returning into the forehand corner and some excellent backhand retrieving. Catherine showed composure and tactical awareness by hitting the galleries at every opportunity to control the service end. As the sun started to beat through, spotlighting the player at the receivers end, Xanthe was unable to maintain her excellent retrieving and with Catherine's near perfect length shots to the base of the tambour she surged ahead to take the set 6-3. Some awesome tennis played by both ladies, and only one set gone! The second set continued in the same vein as the first - 3-3 was reached, with some outstanding winners from both sides of the net. Catherine again resumed control of the service end and was giving Xanthe nothing to attack. Although Xanthe dug deep and fought till the last, Catherine was just too strong and too consistent and proved too much taking the match 6-3 in the second.

Next to grace the Paris court was Sue Haswell and Judith Sear. This was Sue's first competitive tournament match since April 1999 and the same class she had then was clearly evident today. It was plain to see that if Judith was going to win a game she had to work for it! Sue was impressive, and despite Judith's stubborn and dogged retrieving, she took the first set 6-0. The theme of the first set continued all through the second and Sue was parsimonious in giving away her points. Haswell really stamped her authority on this tournament and took the match 6-0 6-0.

Match 4 was a battle of the Aussies - there seem to be a lot of them!! - but I'm not complaining! Amy Hayball, the youngest Aussie competitor was up against Susan Castley, the latest female to join the professional ranks. Amy, having been practicing on every court in the UK and having personal coaching from the leading Amateur in the world went on the court with every intention of producing her best against a very tough competitor. Susan began the match at a blistering pace and promptly took the score to 3-0. At this point, Amy started to slow herself down and control her nerves to play an excellent fourth game to get herself on the scoreboard and into the match. The next game went to deuce after some excellent forcing by Amy, but Susan held firm and took the set 6-1. At the start of the second set Amy looked to have got her nerves and swing under control, she played some superb volleys and showed great athleticism in her retrieving. Susan quickly responded winning the second game with an outrageous shot that landed on the back penthouse, to side penthouse, landing on the ledge of the dedans and then bouncing in!! How wonderfully Parisienne! The next two games followed the same pattern. THe level of tennis was ever improving, with some superb rests, filled with some great attacking shots into the corners and excellent retrieving by both players. At 2-2, Susan seemed to move up a gear and smell victory and forced Amy into making more errors. Susan moved to 4-2 and then it was evident that no more quarter was to be given. As hard as Amy tried, luck was not on her side and with a couple of "parisienne" bounces Susan finished the job 6-3 in the second.

The penultimate main draw match of the day was between one of the LRTA bursary candidates from the UK, Jo Crerar and Sara Reston, wife of one of the tournament sponsors Christopher Reston. With nerves obviously playing a part with this being the first world Championships for both competitors, no-one was sure how this one was going to go. Sara showed composure and precision to take a 3-0 lead. Jo looked very nervous and was reluctant to attack the serve in order to gain some momentum. Sara took full advantage of her out of sorts opponent and played consistently well to force Jo into errors and gained the first set 6-2. Sara, continuing her form all through the second set refused to relinquish a game, regardless of some stunning play by Jo at times, and took the match 6-0.

The last match on was the no 2 seed, Jo Iddles, against the impressive Juliette Lambert. Jules had already admitted to me that she fully expected to be playing in the plate competition later in the afternoon so I'm not sure she was expecting miracles. However, she showed some real fight and determination against one of the contenders for the title at the other end. Jo was made to work for each and every point, Juliette chased everything down often surprising herself with some remarkable gets. The crunch points always seemed to bring the best out in Jo and she took a lead in the first set of 5-1. The next game went to 6 deuces with some incredible tennis being played by the underdog. At game point to Jules, attacking a long chase, Jo hit a rebarbative forehand volley that crawled over the net to land an inch over the hazard side - the crowd felt for Jules. But justice prevailed and Jules went on to win that game, but lost the set 2-6. The beginning of the second set saw some more brilliant tennis (Jules going redder by the minute due to her stoic retrieving). Jo took a 4-0 lead as she showed her ability to kill the easy ball, and while tiredness was evident on Jules' face more unforced errors crept in to allow an impressive Iddles proceed to the next round with a 6-0 second set score.

Charlotte Cornwallis