Alberta Brianti overcomes Kristina Barrois in the opening round – e-Boks Open 2012
World number 63, Alberta Brianti of Italy, went through a taxing three-setter to overcome the German veteran, Kristina Barrois, in the first round of the e-Boks Open on Monday. The 32-year-old took one hour and 58 minutes to settle
the matchup at 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to make it through to the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International Tour event.
It was the sixth battle between these two veterans and Barrois was leading 4-1 prior to Monday’s encounter. The German won her last two matches against Brianti and was the hot favourite for winning the opening round contest against
the Italian this time but it went the other way. Brianti took hold of the momentum right from the beginning and stamped her authority early in the match to get one up. She went through a terrible slump in the second set, letting Barrois back in business but
then recovered very well in the decisive set to conclude her eighth victory of the running season.
32-year-old Brianti delivered 66 per cent of her first serve on target and coughed five double faults in the match. She clinched 33 out of 58 first serve points and converted half of her 16 break opportunities in the contest to
come out as the winner. On the other hand, Barrois could register six out of 15 serve breaks in the match to finish on the losing side in the end.
"It was a very tough match today, and I'm very happy to go through," Brianti said. "I started the match very well and had a lot of confidence from winning the first set. She then started to play better in the second, and it got
tougher. The third set was very competitive, with quite a few breaks of serve, but I managed to keep my concentration at the end and thankfully came through. I like playing in Copenhagen. I played here last year and had a good result, making the quarterfinals,
so I have some good memories."
Brianti has to wait for her opponent in the second round of the e-Boks Open. She will take on the winner of the match between the sixth seed German, Mona Barthel and Johanna Larsson of Sweden later this week.
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