Costas-Moreira, Radwanska and Lee-Waters advance in the qualies at the 2011 Grand Prix SAR
Spanish tennis player Leticia Costas-Moreira eased past local Intissar Rassif 6-2, 6-1 to book a second round spot at the 2011 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem qualifying tournament in Morocco.
Leticia faced very few problems against the inexperienced Rassif as she completed her straight set victory in only 1 hour and 2 minutes. Both players looked to dominate right from the start. However Leticia’s excellent serving earned her the crucial serve break in third game of the set. The 21-yeare-old dropped just one more game to wrap up the first set 6-2.
Having firm control over the contest, the Spaniard continued to pressurize her opponent with some top class tennis. She claimed four straight points in the second game of the set to make the first serve break. Leticia then made two more serve breaks in the set to seal the match in straight sets with only 1 hour and 2 minutes of play gone.
Ranked 238 in the world, Leticia has experienced a difficult time on the Women Tennis Association tour since the start of this season. With only three wins in her last ten international outings, the Spaniard will be hoping to turn things around for her at the WTA tournament. However, she will have to up her game play considerably if she wants to pose any threats to top seeded players included the main draw.
Intissar Rassif on the other hand had no answers against some good tennis played by her opponent. Although she achieved an impressive 87 per cent first serve conversion, her weak second serve gave the challenger ample opportunities to score free points. The 15-year-old had four chances of serve break in the match but could convert none and hence paid the price.
In another match Polish Urszula Radwanska eased past Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round at the red clay courts qualifying tournament.
Radwanska powerful serving and strong ground play ensured her an easy win over a relatively inexperienced opponent. The 20-year-old broke the serve 5 times and made the challenger run for her money with her wonderful backhand and forehand shots. Pliskova put up a good fight in the second serve but couldn’t stop Radwanska from earning a well deserved victory.
Seeded third at the qualification round, Radwanska will take on Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal in her next match-up. Koehler crushed local Lina Bennani 6-2, 6-1 in her opening match.
American Lindsay Lee-Waters also made it to the second round with a 6-3, 2-6 and 6-4 victory over Romanian Alexandra Cadantu. She will face Catalina Castano in her next match-up.
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