Anabel Medina Garrigues dumps Melanie Oudin on the opening day – Family Circle Cup 2012
Main draw of the Family Circle Cup begun on Monday and the 10th seed Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues defeated Melanie Oudin of the United States in the opening round. The world number 27, Garrigues, took two hours
and 29 minutes to settle the three-setter at 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, to clear the first round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier-level event in Charleston, USA.
It was an evenly poised contest, with both contestants battling hard to take the better of one another. Garrigues was off to an excellent start in the opening set, pocketing it early to get one up in the contest. 20-year-old Oudin
made a thumping comeback in the very next set to draw the contest at level terms. A gruelling competition was anticipated in the third set but it was completely owned by the sheer brilliance of Garrigues. The Spanish veteran went broke Oudin in her every serve
game and concluded her victory with a bagel set.
It was Garrigues’ third straight victory over the American youngster, giving her a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series. She outplayed her last year at Strasbourg, France and replicated the similar results on Monday afternoon. Although
she delivered merely 55 per cent of her first serve on target, Garrigues secured 29 out of 47 points on it and registered six out of eight break points en route to victory. Oudin crafted a total of six break opportunities in the matchup and converted half
of them to finish on the losing side in the end.
Action started from the fifth game when Garrigues registered the first serve break of the day to lead 3-2. An exchange of break points in the next two games left the Spaniard with a 5-3 lead and she faced no further trouble in
serving out of the first set at 5-4.
Oudin kept her slump in the second set and was broken in the very first game to trail 0-2. However, a dramatic turnaround from the local youngster was seen shortly afterwards, as she broke Garrigues in the fourth and 10th
games to seal the second set at 6-4.
With the contest being evenly poised at 1-1, the local crowd anticipated that Oudin would live up to their hopes but it went the other way round. Garrigues registered a six-game rampage to rocket past her opponent, finishing the
matchup at 6-0 to reach the second round of the Family Circle Cup in an assertive manner.
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