I'm sitting in the hotel lobby at 12:30am trying to defrost while typing this, so bear with me. I swear I have brainfreeze and a stiff neck from sitting in the cold but it was all well worth it to see our darling Coconut gut out a three set win over her Montreal ouster, Franny, 16 63 61
Mama no likee.
It was looking rough in the first set, as Fran was playing well and Dinara just seemed a step slow. Her serve is still going to make holding extremely difficult, but she was able to keep her head tonight in really difficult conditions. The air was frigid and the wind was swirling through much of the match. But she was able to turn things around in the second set as Franny came back to earth.
Maybe it took her that first set to warm up and get her legs under her, maybe Franny's drop in form (her backhand in particular went first) gave her more confidence to step into her shots. But by the time the third set rolled around, Dinara was hitting freer and smarter, hitting with more margin and topspin, and basically keeping the ball in the court.
Fran didn't have any answers, and by the end of the match every part of her game had broken down. She was missing her backhand by feet, double faulting away breaks, and muffing volleys that she had stuck in the first set. So we won't get a Fran/Sam rematch in the semis. I'm not gonna lie, I'm ok with that. I still have PTSD.
Dinara gave a quick presser after the match and seemed really touched by the crowd support. It showed. She stayed on court for a good 15 minutes signing every last autograph from the faithful fans who endured the cold to see her win. She even spent a few minutes trying to flag a guy down to give him her racquet. Not sure what that was about.
She said this was one of the best matches of the year, but humorously acknowledged that she could count the number of matches that she's played this year on one hand. I asked/told her that the crowd support she had received here and in Montreal must be great given what she's had to go through in the past year. She paused, looked down, and rather sweetly (in a Dinara way, of course) said "you pointed it out exactly right." She said that even with her drop in the rankings, to have that crowd support really helped and that it "pumped" her up.
So keep cheering, guys. She hears you. She hears us all. And she likes it.
Oh, and we have confirmation: Marat will be at the Open.
