Tour diary: Ice, ice baby

Caroline Wozniacki

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Bet and win
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki was the first woman into the AEGON International semi-finals on Thursday on her fifth visit to Devonshire Park. After clobbering Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-2 she told the press she has a soft spot for the East Sussex town. “I love coming back to Eastbourne,” the world No.9 said. “They have the best ice cream shop right around the corner. They have those cups where they mix them and they have one called Casablanca – chocolate, vanilla and caramel. If I win I treat myself to one. Me, Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska, we’ve been at the parlour a few times. We make bets with each other and the one who wins gets a free ice cream! We bet about how long it takes to walk from the hotel to the courts!”

Get your hands on the tennishead magbook
For those of you visiting Eastbourne over the next couple of days visit the Tennis Industry Association stand just behind Court 3. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of the first ever tennishead magbook which features a 40-page guide to Wimbledon.

Results: The ladies
After so many big names from the women’s game had come and gone in Eastbourne during the opening four days, the major news on Thursday was the departure of defending champ Agnieszka Radwanska. The young Pole put up a brave fight in breezy conditions but couldn’t stop Virginie Razzano from marching into the semis 7-6, 7-5. She will play fellow Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli after the world No.12 had few problems seeing off Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-4. They will square off in the top half on Friday while in the bottom half Wozniacki and Aleksandra Wozniak will go head to head. As we’ve already mentioned, Wozniacki, the event’s sixth seed, beat Makarova 6-3, 6-2 while Canada’s Wozniak, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the week, thrashed Russian qualifier Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-0 in 45 minutes. “I played some really clean, solid tennis,” Wozniak said. “I was really focused today. With Frank Dancevic into the semis of the men’s draw as well, I’m really motivated! Go Canada!”

Bullish Bartoli
We all know how well Marion Bartoli can play on grass after the Frenchwoman made the Wimbledon final in 2007. Listening this week to one after another of the top ten women talk about how difficult they find playing on the surface, Bartoli is, unsurprisingly, quietly confident going into Wimbledon. “My swing is really short so I’m able to make few unforced errors,” she says. “Many of the other players make so many unforced errors because they have such big swings. The women’s draw at Wimbledon is really open this year. If I’m not in the same part of the draw as Venus I have a chance to be in the final one more time. The best players are not good on grass and my game is suited to grass. If I can play well and because I’ve done it once already I’m really confident I can do it twice.”

Results: The men
Ivan Ljubicic hobbled out of Eastbourne after a nasty twist of his ankle that drew everyone in media centre around the TV monitor next to the interview room. After taking the first set 6-3 and while trailing 4-2 in the second against fourth seed Fabrice Santoro, the big Croat came a cropper as he chased down a drop shot. His ankle gave way and he was left writhing in agony tangled in the net. “As soon as he fell over he screamed so loud and I understood quickly it could be serious,” Santoro said afterwards. “You always feel bad when this happens, especially when it’s your friend. There’s not much to say about the match, huh?” The news from the ATP later in the day was that Ljubicic will have an MRI scan to determine how serious the injury is. Santoro goes through to play Dancevic on Friday. The qualifier, ranked No.126 in the world, scrapped his way into the last four with a 6-7, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer. In the bottom half second seed Dmitry Tursunov beat Denis Istomin 7-6, 6-4 and goes through to play eighth seed Guillermo Garcia Lopez, who came through against Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the last quarter-final on court.

A taste of British tennis
Punters wandering past the LTA stand at Devonshire Park on Thursday were invited to try the cooking of Alex Boyd, head chef at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. On the menu this lunchtime was smoked mackerel with a beetroot salad. The high standard of food at the NTC is well known in British tennis circles and if they liked what they tasted today, paid-up British Tennis Members can get more of the same by accessing Chef Boyd’s recipes through a secure area of the LTA website.