2011 Cellular South Cup: Stephanie Foretz Gacon upsets Olga Govortsova
French tennis player and World Number 160 Stephanie Foretz Gacon defeated Belarusian tennis pro in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round of the 2011 Cellular South Cup. It took the right-handed player two hours and twenty-two minutes to score a victory
over her 22-year-old opponent.
Olga Govortsova is almost a hundred spots above Foretz Gacon on the Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] rankings, and most tennis pundits had predicted that she would win the match in straight sets.
However, Foretz Gacon seemed to be in exceptional form; she scored three aces against her opponent, and challenged her to a total of fourteen break points throughout the match. Govortsova was only able to defend seven of these, and her French opponent converted
the remaining seven with ease and finesse.
The match, which could have been a runaway victory for the Belarusian, turned into a two and a half hour long challenge which was ultimately too much for Govortsova. The two players played a total of 29 service games, as well as the same number of return
games. It must be noted that both players won 50% of the 194 points of the match, taking away 97 points each.
Foretz Gacon turned pro in 1997, but has not won a WTA career title yet. So far this year, she has played in thirteen matches and scored nine victories. World Number 70 Govortsova joined the WTA circuit nine years ago in 2002, and has also not won a WTA
title. She has played eight matches in the new season, scoring four victories and suffering four losses.
Now that Stephanie Foretz Gacon has defeated Olga Govortsova, the 29-year-old will compete with British 18-year-old Heather Watson in the second round. Watson defeated Cech tennis pro Andrea Hlavackova in the first round, winning the match 6-3, 7-5. This
is the first time that Foretz Gacon and Watson will be competing against each other.
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