Romanian left hander Elena Bogdan beat Britain’s Lauren Dowling in straight sets in the opening tennis match at this year’s Liverpool Hope University International Tennis Tournament.
Lauren managed to hold her own for a spell during the first set against the powerful Romanian but still lost 6-3. The 23-year-old Romanian, from Bucharest, was too powerful for the British hope and went on to win the second set 6-0 and preventing a third set from taking place.
Elena, who played at Wimbledon three years ago and is playing in the doubles there later this month, said: “The quality of the court here in Liverpool was really good. The grass was a little longer here than in Wimbledon – this meant you could occasionally get a bad bounce. The wind was strong which made the ball move slightly.”
Each time the Elena served she made a whistling sound which some members of the crowd tried to intimidate in jest. The ball was hit with such venom – it too made a whistling sound on the windy centre court!