Chanelle Scheepers dispatches Marina Erakovic in the second round – Texas Tennis Open 2012
World number 42, Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa, battled past New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic in the second of the Taxes Tennis Open. Scheepers gave her rival a straight sets upset by 6-4, 7-6(3) in nearly two hours and
31 minutes on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Kiwi player was unable to capture her opening serve and Scheepers got hold of the opportunity to bag the initial three games of the set, bringing the scores to 3-love. However, Erakovic aggressively combated
her rival and equalized the scores to 3-all by the middle of the set. To her response, the seventh seeded South African nailed a breakthrough and enforced a 6-4 lead to claim the opening set.
The New Zealander smashed two flawless aces to her rival’s court but double faulted four times in the opening set. She had a stumpy first serve percentage of 42, converting 15 of 23 first and 11 of 32 second deliveries. The
28-year-old delivered merely one ace and committed double faulted twice. She had a relatively higher first serve percentage of 67 percent and secured 13 of 24 first and seven of 12 second serve points respectively.
The second set faced a series of breakpoints and both players battled aggressively to come on the top. Erakovic struck the opening game to a attain 1-0 lead and that was quickly balanced to 1-1 from her counterpart. The scores
levelled after every game until the end, enforcing a tie-breaker round into play. The Kiwi had a flying start against her rival in the decider and clinched the initial two points. However, her game gradually lost momentum and by the end of the match, Scheepers
stepped forward as the winner by 7-6(3).
The 54th ranked Erakovic shelled her rival South African with two aces and without any double fault. Whereas she exhibited a moderate first serve percentage of 55. She only pocketed 16 of 29 first
and 10 of 24 second deliveries. Scheepers was unable to hit any ace and double faulted three times in the closing set. Nevertheless, she had a higher first serve percentage of 67. Fortunately, she converted 15 of 31 and nine of 15 second delivery into points
to claim her victory.
She will be playing against the third seeded Italian Roberta Vinci for the next match in the tournament.
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