Ayumi Morita stuns Heather Watson in the opening round battle – Sony Open Tennis 2013
Japanese tennis ace, Ayumi Morita, upset the world number 39, Heather Watson, in the opening round of Sony Open Tennis tournament on Tuesday. The 23-year-old had to dig deep to settle the final score line at 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, to progress
in the WTA Premier event in Miami, USA.
Morita had to work extremely hard to recover from one-set deficit and turn the table upon the British youngster. She struggled hard for two hours and 45 minutes to register her second victory over Watson at the same venue. She
came out victorious in 2011 edition, dumping Watson 7-5, 6-2. The Japanese had to work harder this time round but the ultimate result was the same.
The 23-year-old Japanese was off to a poor start in the opening set and could barely hold her serve in one game before the Brit launched her onslaught. Watson nailed two successive breaks of serve in fourth and sixth games to reach
a formidable lead of 5-1. She served out of the set comprehensively to register a breadstick at 6-1.
Watson carried on with her winning impetus in the following set and broke her opponent early to lead 3-1. An exchange of break points was witnessed in the fifth and sixth games but Watson sustained her lead at 4-3. Morita finally
equalised the score line at 4-4. Watson held her next serve game but a cracking break point conversion from the Japanese in the 12th game stunned her, as Morita wrapped up the set at 7-5.
The decider took off in a conventional manner, with no break points being witnessed in the opening five games. A trade of break points from both sides was seen in the sixth and seventh games, taking the scores to 4-4. It appeared
as if the final set is heading towards a tie-break round but Morita surprised everyone with a crushing break of serve in the 10th game. She concluded her victory at 6-4 to reach the second round of the tournament.
Morita will take on 31st seed Belgian contestant, Yanina Wickmayer, in the next round. Wickmayer has received a bye to have a direct access to the second round of Sony Open Tennis.
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