Ashleigh Barty conquers Carol Zhao in Girls’ Singles 1st round – US Open 2011
The main draw of the US Open 2011 junior girls’ singles event saw the likes of Australian Ashleigh Barty clash against Canadian Carol Zhao. The layers duelled on court hard court 8 of USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. The third seeded Barty won the match in straight sets of 6-2, 6-2 in just 52 minutes.
The players had never contested before and were not familiar with each other’s style a performance. Opening the first set was the Canuck who won on her serve and then went on to breaking her Aussie adversary in the second game to lead it with 2-0. Not wanting her opponent to take a lead on her, the Aussie quickly broke back in the third game and eventually balanced the score at 2-2 in the fourth game. From their onwards the number three seeded kept breaking her opponent ; second time she broke Zhao was in the fifth and then in the seventh game to take a lead of 5-2. Ultimately Barty was serving for the set point; luckily she was capable of holding her serve against Zhao and bagged the set with a 6-2 victory.
By the end of the first set Barty was dominating the match and had smashed an ace and a winner. Even though, Zhao had targeted 63% of her first serves, she was unable to win an above average score in her first and second serve, and thus lost most of her points. With a difference of ten points Barty bagged the first set in 26 minutes.
Opening the second set was again Zhao, who won on her serve and broke Barty in the second game to take a 2-0 lead but was unable to maintain it. The second set was an exact copy of the first one with Barty capitalizing on three break points to take the lead in the seventh game with a 5-2 and by holding her serve in the eighth game she served for the set and the match.
The second set was also a comprehensive victory of 6-2 in again another 26 minutes. Even though, this time neither of the players hit an ace or a winner, Barty was still capable of winning a walloping 70% of her first serves. With a difference of 7 points Barty eased into the second round of the US Open where she will be facing un-seeded American Gabrielle Andrews.
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