Erika Sema gets rid of Mandy Minella in 1st round – HP Japan Open 2011
Qualifier Erika Sema got rid of the unseeded Luxembourgian Mandy Minella in the opening draw of the HP Japan Open 2011. The players took up the racquets on outdoor hard courts of the Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka, Japan. After
one hour and twenty one minutes, the Japanese qualifier Sema scored in straight sets of 6-3, 6-3 over her Luxembourgian challenger on Tuesday the 11th of October 2011.
The players were meeting for the first time and opening the initial round of the match was Minella, who expertly handled her first serve and placed herself on the scoreboard at 1-0. She then went on to breaking her adversary in
the second game and took a mini lead of 2-0. However, Sema made a return in the third game and broke back, by the end of the fourth game she had equalized the score to 2-2 as she held serve.
In the following two games the players won on alternate serves and the scoreboard had rounded at 3-3. From there onwards, the Japanese qualifier moved into her form and utilized her offensive technique of break-serve-break. In
the seventh game Sema broke her adversary for the second time and was first to take a mini lead by holding her serve in the eighth game. She was now only a game away and as she smashed a couple of marvellous backhand winners she bagged the opening set with
a 6-3 victory.
First to serve for the second set was Sema and she too held her serve. In the second game she capitalized from an early break and accomplished to place herself on the scoreboard at 2-0. She further increased the mini lead to 3-0
as she held her serve in the third game. Minella made a comeback but it wasn’t with a bang and instead she was barely able to hold her serve in the fourth game.
In the following two games the players again held serve and the scoreboard shifted to 4-2 with Sema up a break and a game. During the seventh and the eighth game the two won on alternate games and by the ninth game, Sema was serving
for the match. As she hit an amazing winner down the line, she sealed her straight sets victory and reserved a spot in the second round of the event.
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