Bianca Botto and Sloane Stephens advance in the qualies at the 2011 Grand Prix SAR
Peruvian Bianca Botto breezed past local Fatyha Berjane 6-0, 6-1 on Saturday to book a place in the qualifying second round of 2011 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Morocco. Botto will take on top seeded Irina Camelia
Begu in her next match-up at the tournament.
Botto was able to strike a perfect a balance between attack and defense in a match that lasted for only 59 minutes. The first set proved to be completely one sided as the 19-year-old Peruvian pocketed the set without dropping a
single game. Berjane, who is a fresh face in the Women’s Tennis Association arena, had very few answers against her opponent’s onslaught. The 16-year-old local tennis-player could claim only 4 of the 28 points in the opener.
The second set also followed a similar pattern. Having firm grip over the contest, Botto played freely and successfully executed her backhand and forehand shots. She lost only a game in the set as she sealed the match in straight
sets to advance to the next round on the red clay courts of Fes.
Botto dominated her opponent in all departments of the game. Her first serve conversion was an impressive 76 per cent and she secured 90 per cent of the points on her second serve. Berjane on the other hand served carelessly and
committed a number of unforced errors. Her weak second serve played a crucial part in her defeat as she converted only 1 out 10 break points on her second serve.
Meanwhile sixth seed Sloane Stephens of United States made quick work of Israeli Julia Glushko 6-1, 6-3 to make it to the next round at the qualifying tournament.
Stephens has made a significant impact on the ITF circuit with some memorable performances however she is yet to prove her mettle in the WTA arena. The American tennis-pro started the year with a qualifying round loss at Auckland.
She then fell in the Australian Open qualifier and slipped to world number 170 in the world rankings. However in her opening clash at the qualifying tournament she looked in great touch and required only 1 hour and 5 minutes dispatching her opponent.
Stephens made an aggressive start to the match and broke the serve three times in the opening set. Her opponent Glushko had couple of chances to break back but selected the wrong shots and hence paid the price.
The 18-year-old American continued to pressurize her opponent in the following set as well and made a serve break in fifth game of the set. She then held on to her serve games to secure a comfortable victory. Stephen’s next round
opponent will be Columbian Mariana Duque Marino.
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