The CLUB RANCHO CAMPESTRE in Bogota is located on the outskirts of the city, a location that used to be way up north but which the growing Metropolis is slowly encroaching. It holds the COPA COLSANISTAS, a Tier International WTA event which attracts a few top 40 women, and others that find it accessible to get there. It is a Country Club, so its facilities are Spartan for the players; the Club House, beautiful and old fashioned, is still off-limits for those that are not members, a courtesy that I do not know has been extended to the playing WTA guests. After a short qualifier tournament during the weekend, proper play begins on Monday, with Sara Errani taking on Anastasia Yakimovya. Errani earns an easy victory which I do not get to see because it starts too early and she finished it too quickly, so I join the afternoon session to see how the girls from the WTA put on a show. The first match on Center Court features Edina Gallovits against Lourdes Dominguez. After the usual warm-up they begin, and for a few games it remains even; both players are getting used to the court conditions, and it takes them a while. Bogota sits at 2,600 meters over sea level, a good 8,000 feet that make the air thin and the balls fly. Dominguez, all Spanish and topspin, is trying to control the match hitting high balls reminiscent of the Conchita Bananas, balls that land in mid court but bounce well beyond the baseline. Gallovits is reluctant to take the ball early at the beginning, but after getting an early break she takes on more risks. Her western grips allow her to flatten up the ball and she starts to dictate the match. It is also a bad day for Dominguez; several forays to the net after moving Gallovits around end up with volleys that are smacked hard into the white tape of the net. She grows a bit frustrated because she is moving her opponent around, she is dictating as much as Edina, but she can’t finish the points. The first set goes quickly, 6-2, and the second follows suit, 6-1. It is a match with no suspense, but it is nice to appreciate the movement of the women, fast and speedy as they skate into their shots. The second match of the afternoon is a stark contrast. Aranxta Parra battles Olga Savchuck, from Ukraine. Being both taller than the previous rivals they decide to hit flat, penetrating shots. This makes for more entertaining rallies, but also more errors. Parra, from where I watch, seems to be 8 feet tall, 6 of which are legs. Savchuk looks the same, but with a stronger upper built. They each break serve twice in the first set, setting a tie-break that is classical: Parra gets the first mini-break, Savchuk comes back to get to 6-3, Parra erases all three set points only to lose another point, allowing Savchuk to finally take the set. Later on I will find out that Parra regrouped and won the match, which is a shame in the sense that It seems I missed a good comeback. During the match we witness that WTA aberration that is on-court coaching. In the first match, Dominguez calls her coach after dropping the first set. Gallovits does not, until she realizes that her rival has, and then she calls hers too. If you can do it, so can I. A surprising, although not much, detail is that in the second match, Parra calls for her trainer: it is the same young guy that coaches Dominguez, proof that for lower ranked players savings matter. During both matches I see other players coming to the stands. I recognize Gisela Dulko, seeded second, catching a bit of the early match. If she wins her opener, she will play the winner of that one. So much for one match at a time. It is country club tennis, at a high level. Very easy going, there are not too many stars and the players just walk around. One fan asks Dulko for an autograph, but most other players are anonymous; you know they are pros because they carry their credentials, but they all are loose and walk around, some walking into other courts and all cheering each other. It is nice to see some camaraderie between them: Dominguez comes back to the court where she just lost to cheer for Parra, and in the doubles courts you can see some girls venting phrases in an obscure language (something from Eastern Europe) to the players on court. I guess C’mon is easy to understand in any language. Tomorrow the number 1 and 2 seeds play. CSN and Dulko start their road to the finals, so maybe the quality goes up. In the meantime, a slow day of WTA tennis ends, reminding the flakey amateurs that even the lowest of the WTA can still beat your pants off. On a court.