Carla Suarez Navarro packs Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the quarter-finals – Estoril Open 2012
Spanish tennis ace, Carla Suarez Navarro, plonked elder compatriot, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, in the quarter-final clash of the Estoril Open on Thursday. An hour and 25 minutes encounter was bagged by the 58th ranked Spaniard
in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
It was the fourth opportunity for the 24-year-old Spaniard, Espinosa, to open her account against her compatriot at the professional level but she squandered yet another opportunity. She lost in Tenerife 2008, Sofia 2010, US Open
2011 and now in Estoril Open 2012.
The opening set witnessed just one serve hold. A booming start to the match witnessed breakthroughs in succession for both players. No one was able to capitalize on their serve until the eighth game when the superior ranked Spaniard
won four out of five points to register the first serve hold. It changed the whole picture of the set and Espinosa was broken again for the fourth time in the set that gave a lead to her rival.
Stunningly, the second set was completely different from the first. It featured five back-to-back serve holds before the first breakthrough was clinched by Navarro. Her opponent fought back immediately with a successful breakpoint
but failed to hold her serve that reinstated the lead of the 23-year-old Navarro.
Finally, the time had come when Navarro had three back-to-back match points and she wasted one of them but bagged the second one to book a berth in the semi-final stage of the tournament. On her triumph, the Spanish tennis sensation
stated, “Yesterday I played only 40 minutes while Sílvia played more than two hours, so maybe it was tougher for her to play today. But I'm happy to be in the semi finals. We are friends so it was not easy to play."
Navarro will lock horns with the Italian qualifier, Karin Knapp, who showed immense talent to oust the superior ranked players especially the second seed Russian, Maria Kirilenko, in the previous rounds of the tournament. She is
the former world number 35; so she knows the traits of playing in such elite competitions and if she continues to extend her winning streak, she will be in with a chance to win her maiden Women Tennis Association title this year.
It will be an entertaining battle and hopefully the crowd will witness a gruelling three-setter. Both players are in emphatic run of form and having ousted some superior ranked players on their way into the last four, it makes
an interesting matchup.
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