Grady goes down in round of 16 ITF Christchurch

Grady went down 6-2 6-2 to Auckland's Imogen Golder in today's R16 matches.Grady could not convert 5 break points on five of Golders service games and showed the lack of tough matches.Movement was still a problem with Grady due to a recurring back problem but showed glimpses of her old self with strong forehand winners.Golder used a variety of angles to not allow Grady to dictate, but a good tournament for Gabrielle showing that she can still compete at this level.Leela Beattie scored a R16 win defeating Emily Webb from Australia 7-6 6-2.Beattie had to fight all the way in the first set as the Australian found her "A" game.Grady and Beattie teamed up later in the day to defeat The 4th Seeds from Japan, Ayukawa and Naito 6-3 6-1.Grady and Beattie found themselves down 3-1 in the opening set but then their consistently hard hitting with depth took its toll on the Japanese pair.Strong serving from Grady throughout saw Beattie putting away many volleys.Their next match is against the Bird sisters and although the Birds were seeded on ITF rankings if it was a local New Zealand tournament Grady and Beattie would have the edge on seedings and for this match definitely on paper will be hard to beat.However this is tennis and no result is ever a forgone conclusion until you shake hands.