Rothesay tournament and Eastbourne

First day I had ground pass which meant I got to see the outside courts and all practice courts. There were only doubles on the outside courts, but to be honest, they were super exciting and people on centre court were desperately wanting doubles. 
The first doubles was men's doubles with two Argentinians winning a tightly fought match. The next match on was a ladies doubles with two Italians who led all the way till middle of the second set and then lost in a tough tiebreaker to an  American and Indian. Great match.
The last I saw was our very own NZ player Erin Routliffe with her Canadian partner. What a tall, elegant lady Erin is, and she looked as if she was having fun, even though it was no walkover. They did win though.
In between matches I sought the shade and also interesting practice sessions. Most players were out there at some stage, including
Emma Radacanu and
my train companion Cam Norrie. 
One of the coaches of Italian player Cobolli rushed over with a can of balls for me. It must have been because I applauded! What a great souvenir.
What a hot day it had been, high twenties and virtually no shade or seating! I was exhausted. After dinner, I had a wonderful stroll to the pier, and enjoyed the sunset as I sat in the cool evening air on the beach. 
Imagine my joy to find that Cam  was playing first on centre court the next day. I had brilliant seats quite near the front with a perfect diagonal view of the court. Good match, but sadly Cam was not able to win..

Next match was excellent with Emma Radacanu playing the extremely hard-hitting Sloane Stephens. It was an exciting match, ending with a good win for Emma, a real crowd favourite.
Interestingly, the British number 1, Katie Boulter, playing after Emma, got a very subdued reaction from the crowd when she won her match.

Last match on should have been a very equal match between Sonego from Italy and Fokina from Spain. For some reason the latter couldn't play and so Henry Searle, the 17-year-old junior Wimbledon champion played him. Wow, what a big hitter he is. He did really well, but Sonego wasn't really troubled.
Most play had ended but luckily we were allowed on to court two to watch the final match of the day, and for me undoubtedly the best. NZ player Michael Venus was playing with Skupsky from Britain. The match was a real thriller against two Brazilian players.
A perfect end to a fantastic day of tennis.
Time to move on tomorrow to Rye with very pleasant memories of Eastbourne and the extraordinary tennis. 

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