Swiss duo out to extend winning run of form in Berlin
Swiss pair Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre continued their impressive run of form at the smart Grand Slam, Berlin, when they beat Natalia Dubovcova and Dominika Nestarcova to reach the last 16 on Friday.
The duo initially had to go through the qualifying rounds to reach the pool play and once through that they beat the Slovakians 21-11, 21-17 to record their best ever result as a team on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour.
“We had good chance at our home tournament in Gstaad last week and we missed it (reaching the quarterfinals),” Forrer said. “Today we were down in the pool and there was the possibility we might finish last but we avoided it, so I think we just went out there and tried to win.
“We’ve had a good tournament so far and a good qualification. Our main goal was to qualify and then place in the group, so now we are more than happy.”
Forrer and Verge-Depre showed their potential earlier in the tournament when they defeated Brazilian third seeds Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes in their opening pool match. Next up are Germany’s eighth seeds Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler who will have the backing of a vociferous centre court crowd.
“We are looking forward to playing on centre court against a home team,” Verge-Depre said. “It will be a big challenge and a big chance for us. We are already assured of ninth, my first ninth, and anything else will be even better.”
Brooke Hanson and Lauren Fendrick also made it through to the last 16 after they beat Austrian sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger 21-19, 21-18. It is the first time that the US duo have been beyond 17th place at a World Tour event since their fifth place finish at the 2011 Phuket Open.
“It has finally happened,” Hanson said. “We haven’t had a lot of success this year; we’ve had a whole lot of 17th place finishes. That team always plays us really tough and they are always good matches, so we’re really glad to be still in the tournament.
“They’re a tough serving team and they take a lot of teams to three sets. You don’t want to play a third set against a team that serves that tough.”
With four tournaments remaining in 2012 after Berlin, Hanson and Fendrick are hopeful that their upturn in form will herald further success for the rest of the year.
“Everybody has been bringing their A-game this year and fighting to get into the Olympics and trying to pick up points here and there,” Fendrick said. “I think we’re just finding our stride this year and so we’re ready to breakthrough at the end of the season.”
The smart Grand Slam Berlin is the seventh of nine mixed gender tournaments on the 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour and the eighth women’s tournament of the year. The women’s final is scheduled to take place on Sunday July 15 and the winning side will leave with the largest share from a purse of $300,000 per gender.
