Ana Vrljic edges past Zarina Diyas to make it the final round qualifiers of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
26-year-old Croatian veteran Ana Vrljic strained past Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix played at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on Sunday. Vrljic laboured for one hour and
twenty seven minutes before she wrapped up a straight sets victory at 6-4, 7-5, to access to the final round of the qualifying draws of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament.
An enthralling game of professional tennis was witnessed in the well poised contest being played at the Porsche Arena. Diyas hung in the competition for quite some time but her error-ridden led her down to end on the losing side.
The Kazakh matched her opponent in some segments of the game but her inability to collect points on critical moments in the game cost her match. She delivered her first serve with 67 per cent precision, nabbing 26 of 42 points, while her opponents 71 per cent
accurate serve earned him 31 of 46 points in the game.
17-year-old Diyas had her opportunities in the game but her inexperience led her to fritter away most of them. She received break points six times in the contest and converted just half of them to remain at disadvantage. The Kazakh
teenager failed to handle the intense match pressure exerted by the Croatian veteran and crumbled in the second set to bestow victory to her opponent.
Vrljic got the upper hand in the game when she broke in the second game of the opening set to lead 2-0. The Kazakh opponent then exhibited her tremendous talent, firing two straight serve breaks to the opponent. A double fault
from Diyas proved very costly for her as Vrljic broke back in the game and held her serve to level the scores at 4-4. Some errant strokes from the Kazakh further exacerbated her game, with the Croat string a third break point to serve for the set at 5-4. Vrljic
had no trouble in serving out of the first set at 6-4 to get one up in the contest.
Diyas bounced back in the following set with her 72 per cent accurate first serve and clinched 17 of 26 first serve points. She broke her opponent once but dropped her serve twice in the second set to let Vrljic take away victory.
The second break point from the Croat proved decisive as she sealed the contest at 7-5 to move on the last stage of the qualifying draws of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Vrljic has to overcome the sixth seed American, Jamie Hampton in the next encounter if she desires an appearance in the main draws of the tournament at Stuttgart.
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