Annika Beck outfoxes Anna Schmiedlova to grab Girls’ Singles title – French Open 2012
Seeded second in the tournament, Annika Beck, bounced back to overpower the Slovakian starlet, Anna Schmiedlova, in a three-set thriller at the Girls’ Singles Roland Garros 2012 on Sunday. She nudged up a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory against the 17-year-old to
claim the title in her last appearance as a junior at this prestigious clay court tournament held in Paris.
The ultra-fit German, who has not lost a single set en route to title-round, made sloppy start and gifted away the opening set. However, she remained solid on baseline and wings, eventually pulling out the victory in their first match-up. Beck turned 18
this February, meaning this was her last year as a junior.
“Of course it feels very good,” the blooming German stated. “It was such a good final today. We had a tough fight against each other. I was very nervous at the beginning but I just try to handle it because of the situation, my first final here in a grand
slam tournament. It just feels so good to win it. I never thought that I was going to win it today because actually I saw her results before and she was playing very good. But such a win gives so much self-confidence for yourself and for the upcoming tournaments.”
The world number 396, Schmiedlova made drastic start and suffered the first blow in the opening game to fall at 0-2. Despite recovering in the fourth game, he lost his edge again and went 2-3 down. However, the Slovak unleashed her skills after that and
stroke out the last four games, subsequently clicking the opener by winning six games to three.
Ranked 164th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Beck rebounded in the proceeding set and earned the desiderated break in the second game to take the scores to 3-0 lead. Apart from levelling the scores at 4-4, she remained
calm and got the breakthrough in the last game, eventually sealing the set by winning seven games to five.
Beck carried her rhythm in the final set which matter the most. She broke the Slovak’s serve in the fourth game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. The German then exchanged two serve breaks before serving out the decider with a 6-3 win.
Overall, the German manipulated a better first serve share of 72 per cent as opposed to her rival’s 64 per cent and impressively availed 37 out of 64 points on it.
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