Alexa Glatch defeats Emma Laine in the qualifying second round – 2011 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open
Emma Laine of Finland was sent crashing out of the 2011 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open after a 6-2, 6-3 defeat to American Alexa Glatch in the second round of qualifying draw.
Glatch looked on top of her game here in qualifying second round play against the Finn and needed only 129 minutes to conclude the match in her favour. Dominating right from the beginning, Glatch showed a great deal of composure
and executed her shots brilliantly. She held on to her crucial serve game and broke the Finnish tennis player to gain the early advantage. Although Laine broke back twice in the match, she remained unable to halt the flow of points against her as she let Glatch
to take the contest in straight sets.
Both players played average tennis throughout the first set, especially the world No. 283 Laine, who at one point was up 2-0, but allowed nerves to weaken her determination in the first set. However, after losing the first set,
Laine did not lose her head and opened the second set with a break of the Glatch serve, determined not to dissipate this opportunity against the higher-ranked player, but the American quickly roared back and reeled off six consecutive games to win through
to the final round of the tournament.
Glatch wrapped up her clean effort with two aces and an equal number of double-faults. Moreover, she racked up 61 percent of points on her service, 54 percent of points on return and 58 percent of points in total to ensure her
berth in the final round of the qualifying draw. In contrast, Laine trailed behind with a meagre percentage of 46 percent on service, 39 percent of points on return and a poor percentage of 42 percent in total.
With this the 21-year-old American has improved her year-to-date win loss mark to 19/8. The American player will continue her run at the e-Boks Danish Open, set to square off against Han Xinyun of China on Monday. Both players
look to reach the first round of 32 at the tournament. Xinyun did away with the Russian tennis pro, Marina Shamayko in the second round to set up a final round meeting with the American. Glatch and Xinyun have never faced each other on any WTA occasions and
this will be their first ever meeting.
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