Begu/ Hercog oust Sanchez/ Schiavone in 1st round – Hansol Korea Open 2011
Unseeded Irina-Camelia Begu with Polona Hercog defeated Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez with Francesca Schiavone in the doubles main draw match of the Hansol Korea Open 2011. The two squads battled it out on the hard courts of Olympic Tennis Courts in Seoul, South Korea on the 19th of September 2011. After 1 hour and 37 minutes of play, Italian Schiavone and Espanola Sanchez bounced back from a set down to secure a 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 victory.
After winning the toss Begu/ Hercog opened the score and comfortably placed themselves on the score board. In the second game Sanchez and Schiavone also held their serves to equalize the score at 1-1.
The two then kept on winning on alternate serves in the following four games to tie the score board at 3-3 but in the seventh game Begu and Hercog held their serve and in the eighth were two games up. At this point the score read as 5-3.
Serving for the match Begu and Hercog smashed a forehand winner to bag the opening set. Although, Begu and Hercog did not smash an ace, they were still able to clog the initial set and boost their confidence.
The second set was again opened by Begu/ Hercog but this time they got off to a bad start as they were broken in the first and third game. At which point the Italian/ Espanola were leading with 3-0. Although, it was a little late in the match Begu and Hercog won on their serve for the first time in the fourth game.
In the fifth game the Romaine Begu and Slovenian Hercog broke their adversaries and by holding their serve in the sixth game levelled the score to 3-3.
By the end of the following three games Schiavone/ Sanchez had not only held their serve but the two teams broke each other back to back in the eighth and ninth game and by the tenth the score was balanced at 5-5.
The match could’ve tilted either way but the Italian/ Espanola were not ready to throw in the towel and not only did they hold their serve but also broke their opponents for the last time to clog their victory.
By the end of the first two sets, the teams had bagged a set apiece and opening the super tie breaker was Schiavone and Sanchez, the two squads rallied each other for the first sixteen games and tied the score at 8-8.
However, in the last two games, the Italian and the Espanola got the lead they were looking for as their opponents double faulted and gifted them a point. The winning tandem then held their serve to bag the super tie breaker and the match.
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