9:20am Tuesday 27th October 2009
By Simon Fitzjohn
Melanie South found plenty of encouragement despite coming up just short in the Aegon Pro Series event in Glasgow last week.
New Malden star South, who has seen her world ranking plummet to 156 from the heady heights of 99 in February, battled through to the final of the $25,000 invitation tournament, having earlier in the week triumphed in the doubles competition with partner Emma Laine.
But after seeing off four rivals en route to a final showdown with Johanna Larsson, South slipped to a 1-6, 6-1, 3-6 defeat.
She said: “I haven’t made a final for a while and I won the doubles title so overall it has been a really good week for me.
“Obviously I would have liked to have won the singles as well but I would like to build on this week and move ahead in the three tournaments I’m playing before the end of the season.”
There was confusion at the outset of the final as South arrived late due to the clocks changing, meaning a drastically reduced warm-up.
And the 23-year-old admitted the error had taken its toll.
South added: “I managed to refocus and play well in the second set but I probably overpushed it at the start of the third.
“She played well and got ahead and although I fought I couldn’t really do much.
“Even so, there was a really good crowd there and it was a great atmosphere to play in.”
South will now travel to Germany for a tournament in Ismaning this week as she looks to finish off the season on a high.
And she insists there is no question of simply playing out time.
She added: “I haven’t played too many matches this year, so although I have put in a lot of hard work it has not always shown on court.
“Getting some matches this week has been great and I would like to get in a few more so I can end the season positively.”
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