Abigail Spears battles past Oksana Kalashnikova; moves into qualies final at Brussels Ladies Open
The current world number 396 from America, Abigail Spears successfully beat her Georgian opponent Oksana Kalashnikova to qualify for the final round of qualifying draw at 2011 Brussels ladies Open, an event being held at the Royal
Primrose Tennis Club in Brussels, Belgium. The tournament is the part of Premier-level tournament on the WTA Tour and will be contested over a period of eight days.
This was not an easy match for the 29-year-old American as her twenty year old presented a very strong challenge. The victory has definitely given Spears a much-needed boost for her upcoming matches of the tournament. It was very
important for the American to win the match so as to keep her hopes alive at the tournament.
The first set of the match was a real heart throbbing battle as both the players continued to fight hard. After a hard-fought game with numerous breakpoints, it was Spears who screamed a forehand winner down the line to get back
her opponent’s serve and send the set into a tie-break. Spears didn’t falter on the critical occasion as it was Kalashnikova who failed to step up and convincingly went down 7-6(6) in the first set.
In the second set, Kalashnikova couldn’t keep her high level of play but thanks to number of unforced errors from Spears, the Georgian managed to hold for 2-all. The American kept the ball in play without seizing to be aggressive
and ran out to a 4-2, mostly because the Georgian was shaking every forehand she hit. After few minutes of play, the order was restored as the match was tied at 4-all. Spears remained focused and kept concentrating on the job at hand. She pounced on her break
opportunity with an aggressive forehand that proved too much for the Georgian. In the end it was 6-4 to Spears.
Abigail wrapped up the match with one ace and no double-fault. Moreover, she clinched 59 percent on service, 45 percent on return and 52 percent of points in total. Kalashnikova on the other hand, finished off the match with three
aces and equal number of double-faults. She lost the match with 55 percent on service, 41 percent on return and 48 percent of points in total.
Spears emerging victorious today, has improved her year-to-date win loss mark to 1-4. She now moves on ahead to face Paula Ormaechea of Argentina in the final round of the qualifying draw.
Spears and Ormaechea will be squaring off for the first time in their career when the two meet at the Royal Primrose Tennis Club on Monday. Ormaechea is ranked 237th in the world and moved past second seeded Andrea Hlavackova
of Czech Republic in straight sets.
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