I attended the Birmingham 2005 tournament from Monday to Sunday, and
now that I've uploaded to my website all the photos I took, it's
time to share my observations of María.

First round:
+ Anna Chakvetadze d. María Sánchez Lorenzo, 6-4 6-3

I am a demi-fan of María (my favourite Selesian player and a very
attractive lady to boot), but Chakvetadze has been a revelation for
me since I watched her match against Maria Sharapova at the French
Open on TV, and I'm now a demi-fan of Chakvetadze too.

Chakvetadze is very cute, with unique sculptured facial features,
including pretty eyes and the nicest nose I can think of. She's not
a particularly great player, although she does go for her shots, is
willing to come forward to hit overheads or drive-volleys, and is
very reliable at holding serve - except when she has to serve for
the set or the match (she needed endless deuces at 5-4 in the first
set, and was broken at 5-2 in the second).

Chakvetadze did not appear to enjoy this match very much - she
looked like she was chewing on wasps all the time; never did a smile
cross her face while she was playing and I was watching (although
she did smile once when making her way to the practice-courts). But
not smiling is just the way she is; it didn't put me off taking
loads of photos of her! :-o

Chakvetadze does look better on TV than in person, because of the
close-ups: on TV you get to see her eyes bulging as she runs for a
dropshot, or the cute little blows of her lips just before she
serves or receives.

PHILIP: This is a nice biro that they gave me at the Whirlpool booth.
ANDREW: Not as nice as Anna Chakvetadze though!
PHILIP: I don't think you can compare a biro with Anna Chakvetadze.
ANDREW: Well, they both bulge when you press them, don't they? And
have you ever seen a biro smile?


I have uploaded the many photos that I took on my digital camera at
Birmingham 2005:

Maria Sharapova (75 photos)
Daniela Hantuchová (47)
Tatiana Golovin (41)
Maria Kirilenko (41)
Anna Chakvetadze (28)
Yuliana Fedak (16)
Marion Bartoli (14)
Ai Sugiyama (13)
Arantxa Parra Santonja (11)
Alina Jidkova (10)
Eleni Daniilidou (10)
Maria Elena Camerin (7)
Jelena Jankovic (7)
Jennifer Russell (6)
Samantha Stosur (6)
Tamarine Tanasugarn (6)
Rika Fujiwara (6)
María Sánchez Lorenzo (5) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Nicole Vaidišová (5)
Akiko Morigami (4)
Amanda Janes (4)
L'udmila Cervanová (3)
Tatiana Perebiynis (3)
Mashona Washington (3)
Alyona Bondarenko (2)
Anne Kremer (2)
Tatiana Panova (2)
Bryanne Stewart (2)
Shinobu Asagoe (1)
Evgenia Linetskaya (1)
Laura Granville (1)
Jamea Jackson (1)
Anne Keothavong (1)
Natalie Grandin (1)

All these photos can be found in the Photos section of my website
(subject to the image-host being up at the time you visit):
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/photos/

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/selesians/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/