Birnerova/ Daniilidou defeat Jugic-Salkic/ Laine in 1st round – Hansol Korea Open 2011
Unseeded team of Eva Birnerova with Eleni Daniilidou banished the team of Mervana Jugic-Salkic with Emma Laine in the doubles opening round of the Hansol Korea Open 2011. The crews battled it out for one hour and twenty four minutes
of the match on 21st of September 2011 and the Greek (Daniilidou) and the Czech (Birnerova) survived a mid match lapse of 6-3, 3-6, 10-6.
The squads were meeting for the first time and were unfamiliar with each other’s style and skill. Opening the first round was Bosnian Jugic-Salkic and Finnish Laine. Unable to win on their serve they were broken in the first game
by Birnerova/ Daniilidou, who then went on to winning on their service game and took a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth game the Greek/ Czech players were broken by their adversaries to tie the score at 2-2. During the following two games the teams won on alternate serves and at this point the score board read as 3-3. It was Jugic-Salkic/
Laine’s serve in the seventh game but they double faulted and gave a fortunate break to their opponents.
While, in the eighth game Birnerova/ Daniilidou expertly held their serve and were planning to break their adversaries for the last time in the ninth game and as the Bosnian and Finnish served, they netted a backhand shot and gifted
the initial set to their rivals.
After winning the first set Birnerova/ Daniilidou, started off to a good start by holding their serve in the first game but the Bosnian and Finnish pair were not far behind and also held their serve to place themselves on the scoreboard.
However, in the following four games the score again was tied at 3-3, as the teams broke each other back-to-back but in the seventh game Jugic-Salkic/ Laine capitalized on an extra breakpoint as they broke their opponents for the
third time and eventually by holding serve in the eighth game took a lead of 5-3.
Amidst the ninth game, Jugic-Salkic and Laine were now aiming to snatch the game point from their adversaries and as Birnerova/ Daniilidou were trying to slice a drop shot they missed and gave the match to Jugic-Salkic and Laine.
By the end of first two sets both the teams had bagged a set apiece and the teams battled it out during the super tie breaker. The teams kept winning on their serves during the first eight games to equalize the score at 4-4. In
the following two games the players broke each other back-to-back to square off the score at 5-5 then 6-6.
However, during the last three games Birnerova/ Daniilidou shifted into top gear and broke their opponents once in the fourteenth and then in the sixteenth game to rush past their adversaries and served out the match by clogging
the super tie break.
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