Anastasija Sevastova collapses against Monica Niculescu in final qualifier – Cincinnati Open 2011
Another tough final qualifier match of the Cincinnati Open 2011 exhausted the fans as they went by turning their head, from right to left, every second. Playing each other for the 2nd time and the first time on hard-court
circuit, Monica Niculescu, Romanian world No.69, won her final qualifier against Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, world No.67 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. The venue of the match was the Lindner Family Tennis Centre in Ohio.
Niculescu levelled the head-to-head scores on Sunday, 14th August, defeating her counterpart and the higher ranked Latvian world No.67. Playing for the first time on hard-court circuit, the Romanian right-hander destroyed
her challenger after being a set down in the start.
The match intensified as it went through 3 hard-hitting sets ending in favour of the Romanian. Cruising through the first set, the Latvian was then taken out by Niculescu in the following two sets to win the qualifier.
Opening the first set of the match, the Romanian World No.69 served first and scored the first game, 1-0. Sevastova followed with a win and levelled the scores at 1-1. Niculescu once again took the lead winning game 3, 2-1. Winning
her first breakpoint of the match, the Romanian extended her lead to 3-1; however, the Latvian took her first breakpoint away in the following game cutting the Romanians lead to 2-3.
The scores the levelled at 3-3 and then on 4-4 after game 8 of the set. With a sudden breakpoint win, Sevastova took away game 9 finishing off with a win in game 10 to bag the set 6-4. However, the young Latvian had a lot to defend.
Starting off with the second set, the 21-year-old once again served first to roll the scorecard, 1-0. The Romanian 23-year-old followed levelling the scores to 1-1 and further on at 2-2. The first breakpoint came in game 5 when
the Sevastova served and got broken by the 23-year-old to lag 3-2.
Winning back-to-back games, Niculescu won her second breakpoint in game 7 as the score card read 5-2. Finally, finishing off the set in game 8, 6-2, the Romanian levelled the match score 1-1.
The match moved on to the decider as the Latvian once again served first to open up the set and succeeded in winning the first game. The scores levelled as the Romanian took game 2, 1-1. The scores further levelled at 2-2 and then
on 3-3 with Sevastova to serve next.
Niculescu broke the Latvian for the first time in the set and took the lead, 4-3. Extending his lead to 5-3, the Romanian blistered the final game with a breakpoint wining the set 6-3 and the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The 2 hour and 28 minutes match took the Romanian world No.69 qualifying into the main draws of the Cincinnati Open 2011 starting on 15th August, Monday.
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