Greetings from the gloomy Beaverton, Portland. First day in nearly two weeks that we haven't had sunshine, unlike Georgia this summer. Must say haven't missed the summer rains of back home, was getting old.
The Taulatin Hills Park and Rec Department are doing a great job with this tournament. We know it's much work and stress to produce a good product your first time out, but they having been doing it in fine fashion. Besides Natalie's wins yesterday, another highlight for the players was an awesome goodie bag. The little things mean soooooo much to these traveling vagabonds of the tennis world. Congrats to the staff for doing a great job with the little things!
Nat started out a lil tentative on the singles court yesterday, then ceased the moment. Defeating Harkins in three.....6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Both players played well and had their moments of errors. However, Natalie was able to dig deep inside and push forward to the win. Love to see her progression, exciting indeed. Many thanks to Jason her coach at home and, Lee who is here on the road with the summer team.
Playing a match on the stadium court always brings a sense of excitement for both player and audience. Nat and Jac played their first round of main draw dubs on it yesterday. Not having the success they are accustom to on the court together drove them to the practice courts with Lee. Which was very evident during yesterday's match. Our team is seeded second here and was playing a non ranked team, which gave them a chance to relax into tactics practiced. Winning the match 6-1, 6-0 (I think, still can't keep/remember scores) sends them into the quarters on Thursdays.
Today, Natalie will play singles second on vs. Grace Min (USA). They haven't played each other since that horrible week of Beth Choate-Wortman's (Nat's coach) death. So Nat was like 16 and Grace maybe 13-14.....so you can't really judge anything about today on that match....although Nat did win. They used to practice together with Brian, so will be a great match between friends. Always great to see Grace and her mom when she's around.
Natalie's match will be live on the feed. Here is the link to the live video stream on the USTA site:
http://www.usta.com/Pro-Tennis/Pro-Circuit/pro_circuit_live_women/
Soon the lil yellow ball will bounce....enjoy the live feed....until then.....Love and Blessings....Sherry!
