BMW Malaysian Open: Ayumi Morita vs. Shuai Zhang – Preview
Sixth seed Japanese Ayumi Morita faces the unseeded Chinese Shuai Zhang in the second round encounter of the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The contest promises to be a tough battle as both contestants are in sublime form.
Morita outclassed Darya Kustova of Belarus 6-2, 6-0 in the opening game of the tournament to make a spot in the next round. The Chinese, on the other hand, booked a meeting with Morita in the second round after she won her match against Kai-Chen Chang of
Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-7(3) and 6-4 on Tuesday.
World number 57 Morita has never won a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) title in her career but her potential is respected by many. She exhibited her magnificent tennis skills in the first round encounter with Kustova. It turned out to be a fairly one-sided
contest as Morita lost just two games to Kustova in the whole match. The Japanese totally dominated the game throughout, giving no chance to her opponent to bounce back.
The 20-year-old Japanese is known for her powerful serve game, the most prominent factor observed in her opening round victory. Her first serve percentage was an impressive 71 percent while she won 31 of 49 serve points in the match. Morita’s serve was broken
only once in the opening set but she responded to it with three serve breaks. She totally blew away her opponent in the second set, not allowing Kustova to register a single game. She broke her competitor thrice to win the set 6-0.
The 22-year-old Chinese, on the other hand, survived a mid match lapse to overcome Chang in the first round. It was a hard fought victory for Zhang, who recovered very skillfully after losing the second set of the match. Her strength proved to be her destructive
serve. Zhang belted 75 per cent of her first serve on target, winning 46 points out of 77.
Zhang’s victory was assisted by her opponent, who spilled plenty of unforced errors in the contest including eight double-faults. The Chinese fully capitalised upon the weaknesses of Chang and won 70 per cent of the second return points. After bagging the
opening set at 6-4, Zhang lost the second set tie breaker to her opponent. The Chinese bounced back to win the third set and advance to the second round to meet Morita.
Although Zhang’s confidence will be sky high after winning a tough battle, she must realise that her next opponent, Morita, is quite the “miser” when it comes to committing faults in the game. The Japanese merely committed two double-faults in her previous
game and was very accurate with her strokes. Zhang have to push her opponent hard to cough some errors while exhibiting a quality error-free tennis game from her side if she desires success in the second round.
Morita was very proficient on cashing in her break chances, as she won six of the nine break points against Kustova. She gave only five chances to her opponent to crack a serve break but successfully defended four out of them. Zhang proved less capable in
availing opportunities in her first match. She squandered nine of 16 break chances and only converted seven. This weakness can prove costly for the Chinese ace in her next round match. She needs to win crucial points in the game to succeed.
Prediction: It is hard to predict a winner between Morita and Zhang, but the Japanese competitor looks stronger on paper with her recent performance. Nevertheless, the contest will be a treat to watch for the tennis fans.
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