Ayumi Morita battles past Casey Dellacqua in the second round of Brussels Ladies Open
Japanese tennis player Ayumi Morita defeated Australian Casey Dellacqua in three difficult sets at the second round of the 2011 Brussels Ladies Open, winning the match 1-6, 6-0, 7-5. Morita, who currently resides in Ota City, Japan,
took over one hour and forty eight minutes to defeat her opponent, who used her protected ranking to enter the tournament after coming from a shoulder injury.
Morita has been part of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) circuit since 2005, having turned pro over six year ago. Meanwhile, Dellacqua is 26-years-old and had turned professional in 2002.
The Australian player managed to outplay her Japanese opponent in the first set, defeating the player 6-1. Although she didn’t score a huge percentage behind her first serve but, still, she managed to break Morita to win 61 percent
of points in total. Dellacqua immediately found her way to a 4-1 lead. From there it was business as usual for the Australian Player, who concluded the first set with a breadstick. She fired three aces and 71 percent of first serve, winning 67 percent of points
behind them. She held on to her serve and saved 100 percent breakpoints en route to 6-1 in the first set.
After losing the first set, Morita entered the field with some new plans and looked very confident. She served well overall and was too solid off the ground for Dellacqua, who could not live with the Japanese once she found her
range. She put up a great fight in the second set, daring to avenge her defeat in the opening set. She scored 67 percent of points on her serve and did not commit any double fault. She managed to convert 50 percent of the breakpoints on her way to the final
set.
Dellacqua completely disappointed her fans in the second set. The Australian player was expected to regain her strength, as her experience gave her an advantage over her opponent but she was nowhere near her best performance and
had lost the spark she exhibited in the first set. She remained unable to find her groove and finally lost the final set with a 5-7 score.
Morita concluded her victory with 49 percent of points on her service, 53 percent of points on return and 51 percent of points in total. Moreover, she dominated her opponent in every segment of the game, proving herself to be the
stronger player statistically.
Morita now moves on ahead to face third seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who defeated Irina Falconi of American in the second round of the tournament. Once again, fans of Morita and Schiavone will be very excited as the two
meet for the second time in their career. The last time they played against each other was at the US Open, America, one year ago, where Schiavone defeated the Japanese in the first round of the tournament. Schiavone probably would not be in the final spot,
but her overall performance affirms that she has more chances to win the next match.
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