Barbora Zahlavova Strycova edges past Julia Cohen to reach the quarters – XXV Italiacom Open 2012
World number 71, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, outplayed the 140th ranked American, Julia Cohen, in the marathon second round battle in the XXV Italiacom Open. Strycova bounced back a set down to claim the triumph in three-sets
3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
A contest lasted three hours and 14 minutes and witnessed everything that can be expected from a classic encounter. Both players were struggling to grab wins in their recent past so it was an important match that must have lifted
some pressure off the Czech starlet and more importantly placed her in the last eight of the tournament.
The opening game proved to be the longest of the match so the starting scribbled an epic battle between the two contenders. After saving three breakpoints, the 23-year-old American managed to hold serve and escape an early scare.
Both players capitalized on their serves for the first half of the set that pushed the scores to 3-2 in favour of Cohen. She finallay broke her rival's serve and did it in style; winning all four points. It was the worst turnaround
for the 26-year-old Czech who couldn’t recover from that loss and drowned to a trail of 2-5.
The American grabbed the triumph with a serve hold in the ninth game of the match. Trailing one set down, the eighth seed Czech didn’t lose heart and continued to motivate her soul for a comeback.
Strycova held serve in the first game of the second set before a double swap of breakpoints pushed the scores further. Cohen held her serve for the first time in the sixth game to level the scores at 3-3. The momentum was broken
for a couple of games but the eighth seed Czech broke serve for the third time in the set to take a lead of 5-3. She held her serve after an intense battle to keep her chances alive for qualifying for the quarters.
First five games of the final set witnessed no drama at all, as both players bagged easy serve holds to push the scores. Cohen played a couple of drop shots in the following that dismantled the concentration of her rival and earned
her the crucial breakpoint of the match.
However, the eighth seed Czech didn’t fall apart and tested her rival in every game. She won the breakthrough back in the ninth game and held her serve to level the scores at 5-5. She grabbed another breakthrough in the following
game and denied her rival a breakpoint to win the match.
Strycova will lock horns with the third seed German beauty starlet, Julia Goerges, in the round of last eight.
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