Anastasija Sevastova defeats Laura Pous-Tio to advance at Whirlpool Monterrey Open
Latvian Anastasija Sevastova defeated Spanish qualifier, Laura Pous-Tio in straight sets at the Whirlpool Abierto Monterrey on Tuesday. She advances to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over the Spaniard.
The Latvian outclassed Pous-Tio completely in the opening set. With her quick forehands and backhands, she sent the Spaniard running all over the court to win the set 6-2. She broke Pous-Tio’s serve twice and even though both of
them had an almost equal first serve percentage, she earned an excellent 75 percent win on it.
Sevastova kept her winning momentum from the first set and broke the Spaniard’s serve in the very first game. The fired-up Latvian won the first four games in a row. After this, Pous-Tio re-formed herself as she held her serve.
Later with the help of two breaks, she closed the lead to 4-5. But it was too late as the Latvian clinched the match by holding her serve with a score line of 6-4. Sevastova had a much lower first serve percentage but she registered an amazing 65 percent win
on it. She broke the Spaniard’s serve three times and saved a break point as well.
After winning this match, Sevastova has extended her head-to-head lead to 2-0 against the Spaniard.
She will be facing French Alize Cornet later in the event. World ranked 38th, Sevastova had so far won 6 out of her last 10 matches in the season. She lost to world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round at
the Australian Open. She then made early exits in the round of 32 at Paris and Dubai.
Joining her in the second round is the Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. She rallied past Italian Romina Oprandi with a bagel earning a 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 win.
The Czech destroyed Oprandi in the first and third sets with a bagel and a breadstick respectively. She clearly outshined the lower ranked Italian in every department of tennis in this match. Overall Oprandi committed 3 double
faults, had a first serve percentage of 60 percent as compared to Strycova’s 70 percent and broke service five times. The Czech on the other hand saved 6 breaks and broke the Italian’s serve 10 times to clinch the match. She also registered an acceptable 51
percent win on it.
After winning this match, she extended her head to head lead to 2-0 against the Italian.
She will be facing 8th seeded Slovenian Polona Hercog in the second round. Even though she won this match with a bagel, it took three sets to overwhelm the raging Italian. She could overpower a seeded player but needs
to practice more to advance further.
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