I just love so much that Vika goes out of her way to make me laugh.
Also, it was hot in Doha.
In what turned out to be the most epic and dramatic match of the day (which is actually saying something), Vika and Caro locked horns for almost three hours. And in the end, both players' personalities came through and won/lost the match. Basically, Vika exploded (both out of the gate and emotionally at the end) and Caro was steady. And you know what they say about slow and steady.
Vika dominated the first set, taking it 61. Sure, Caro's a bit hobbled, but I thought Vika played really well in that first set. Then in the second set, Vika came down to earth and Caro steadied herself. Vika was spraying unforced errors everywhere and, boy, if you want to talk about someone who doesn't have a Plan B, it's Vika.
After taking advantage of the heat rule (a 10 minute break after the second set), which confused the crap out of Caro seeing as how it was significantly cooler by that time, Vika seemed to have calmed down and played a good third set. She consistently broke Caro, but for whatever reason, COULD.NOT.HOLD.SERVE.
It all came to a head at 5-5 in the third in a four point sequence: First, Vika started snapping at the ball kids. Then she smashed a ball into the stands and received a code violation. Next, after losing the point to give Caro break point, Vika smashed and broke her raquet, receiving another code violation and automatic point penalty, giving Caro the game. She then proceeded to absolutely demolish her racquet on the changeover, Gonzo style. Caro would serve it out easily after that.
Really impressive win from her. I love the kid's fight.
So Vika's loss keeps the White group interesting, as she and JJ are 1-1 after Dina's retirement (more on that in a sec), and Caro is 1-0.
