There was an unsatisfactory moment during yesterday's play in the Rover-sponsored Irish Women's Open Championship at Riverview. It occurred when Gina Niland, at the end of a marathon struggle with the heavy-hitting German, Sandra Waechterhaus, got a dubious line call on match point. Those closest to the scene of the "crime", not least Niland herself, were convinced that the final shot of the match by Waechterhaus had over-hit the baseline, however fractionally.
The match lasted two hours and eight minutes and it proved a titanic struggle, the Irish number one matching the explosive forehands of her left-handed opponent with some subtle returns.
"The call cost me the match. I don't imagine the ball was out, I know it was out," said Niland afterwards, who went down 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. The Irish number one was pleased with her overall performance, despite the discomfort created by the German's wide placement of serve to her backhand. She had a point for the first set before it went to a tie-break and fell to the German.
She dropped her serve, crucially as it transpired, in the second game of the final set. Her bid to break back was commendable. In all, she had three break points, two of them in the last game, but Waechterhaus survived.
The first round has proved treacherous for many of the seeds. Six of the eight have been dispatched. A 19-year-old Hungarian saw off the challenge of second favourite Ludmilia Varmuza, 7-5 7-5. Another 19-year-old, Lydia Perkins of Britain, got the better of number eight seed Katalin Miskolczi in a battle of heavy forehand hitting. Perkins was the most satisfied winner of the day. "I had nothing to lose after coming through the qualifiers. It was a very big win for me," she said. The match went into a final-set tie-break. Both players had squandered match points by this stage, but Perkins got to the net for the match-winning smash. Her 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (119) win took two hours and 40 minutes.
Christine Truman's daughter, Amanda Jane, advanced after a tough match against compatriot Jo Woods. Fellow Brit Lorna Woodroofe, the number three seed, saw off the challenge of Abigail Tordoff.
