Ayumi Morita gives Urszula Radwanska the boot in the 2nd round – Bank of the West Classic 2011
Day two of the second round of the Bank of the West Classic 2011 saw Ayumi Morita playing against Urszula Radwanska. Both the players rivalled it out at the Taube Family Tennis Center, Stanford University, California. Morita won the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 against her Polish opponent (Radwanska).
The two had taken to the courts twice prior to this event and were well established with each other’s skill and technique. Their first meeting was in 2009 at the grass courts of the Eastbourne Tennis Championships, Radwanska had won the match 6-3, 6-1. The Celestial Power had given a chance to Ayumi to avenge her loss. Meeting for the second time at the Tokyo 3 championships in 2010, both the players battled it out on the outdoor hard courts, Ayumi took her vengeance and evened the head to head score 1-1. Both the players had put on their best performance but the Japanese (Ayumi) won the match.
Serving first with a supersonic speed was Ayumi and even though, she didn’t smash an ace, she also didn’t strike any double faults. Although, she was able to hit seventy eight percent of the first serve on target and had an average forty percent win of her total return points, she capitalised on one of the nine break point opportunities and was only able to save fifty percent of break points that she allowed on her serve.
This was the chance for the Pole (Radwanska) to outdo her opponent, she capitalized on two out of the four break points awarded to her by Morita and managed to save a walloping eight out of the nine break point chances. Both the players had comparatively similar points in their serve and return serve, however, Urszula managed to win the set with a meagre five more points than her rivals in the total set points.
Radwanska gained an upper hand by bagging a set, if she could triumph over Morita in the second she would be able to win the match. However, that was not how the events turned out to be. Serving first with nervousness was Ayumi; although, she didn’t strike an ace, she managed to hit sixty eight percent of the first serve shots on target and along with forty seven percent in her total return points of the set, she was able to gain an edge over her rival. Additionally, she had also clenched three break points out of the four she faced and saved seventy five percent of her break points.
Both the players were neck and neck into each other’s points. Urszula lost the set with only 3 points more than her rivals.
Both the players had bagged one set each, the third set would determine the winner of the match. Serving first with utmost precision Ayumi did not falter and struck zero double faults. She won an exceptional sixty five percent of her total service points along with a superb sixty four percent of the total return points; she got the edge that she required.
Urszula performed very poorly and was neither able to win or save any break points along with, almost half as fewer points than Morita’s in her total set score she lost the set and the match. Ayumi Morita will now face Martoli Bartoli in the quarterfinal.
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