Seeds advance in Hobart

Advancing today in Hobart were top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues (def. qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva), 4th seed Alona Bondarenko (def. Alize Cornet), 7th seed Zheng Jie (def. Peng Shuai), and 8th seed Gisela Dulko (def. Tamira Paszek).

The Dulko-Paszek match, played in very windy conditions, produced the odd score of 6-1, 0-6, 7-6, and Paszek double-faulted 19 times. "It was a point today, it was impossible to play tennis," Dulko said after the match. "At the end of the second set, and almost all of the third set it was so tough-- you can't play like this. I don't think I've played tennis in worse conditions than this today."

Official had to weigh down the scoreboard and points had to be interrupted because debris was flying onto the court. According to Dulko, the match should have been stopped.

I saw such a match in 2007 in Charleston, right after several tornadoes came down near the Family Circle Cup Stadium. The final was difficult to play, though 2007 champion Jelena Jankovic handled the wind quite well. It was the doubles final, however, that appeared almost impossible to play, though officials did not stop it, and it did go on until the end. Stuff was flying all over the place, the flower stands came down, and--though I understand the need to finish a tournament--I also fully understand Dulko's objection.