Christina McHale came back from being a set and a break down to defeat Beatrice Capra 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 today and win a wild card into the French Open main draw. The playoffs to determine who gets the wild card were held this week in Boca Raton, Florida. McHale, the number 1 seed, beat Julia Boserup and Asia Muhammad to get to the final. McHale said that at the beginning of the match that she was thinking too much about the French Open, and it took her a while to relax. The top seed said of her opponent, "She wasn't missing at all the first set and a half. She made a couple of mistakes and got startled and I was able to find my rhythm."
I don't know too much about McHale on clay? Can you enlighten me? Thanks
ReplyDeleteI saw her play on green clay in Charleston this year. In qualifying, she beat the SMASH Junior Cup winner, Shelby Rogers, and then she beat Voskoboeva. In the main draw, she defeated Kudryattseva, then lost to Oudin (after Azarenka retired on her).
ReplyDeleteMcHale appears to like the slower surface. Mary Joe Fernandez has mentioned that she thinks it is a good surface for her. McHale appears to be a bit of a thinker on the court. The main thing I've noticed, though, is that she doesn't let a bad point or falling behind get to her mentally.
Further information on her match in Charleston with Alla. She lost the first set and was down 2-5 in the second when she turned it around. She won the second set 7-5 and then won the third set 6-3 (I think).
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