Eva Birnerova runs over Junri Namigata in 1st round – Tashkent Open 2011
The two un-seeded players contesting for a berth in the second round of the Tashkent open 2011 were Japanese Junri Namigata and Czech Eva Birnerova. The two battled it out on hard courts of the Olympic School Tennis Courts during
the main draw of the event. In one hour and twenty one minutes, the Czech came out victorious in straight sets of 6-4, 6-1.
The 27-year-old Birnerova won the pitch and with great confidence opened the score board at 1-0. In the following five games the players kept winning on their serves and eventually balanced the score at 3-3. Breaking first was
Namigata as she forced an error from the Czech; however, the Czech was not going to let her adversary gain the competitive edge and quickly broke back in the eighth game to tie the score at 4-4. During the ninth game Birnerova held her serve and in the tenth
game she produced a raking forehand down the line which Namigata fails to control and thus, loses the set to the 27 year-old Czech.
By the end of the first set, Birnerova had gained a lot of confidence as she was easing into the match, she won the opening set by smashing an ace and hit 64% of her first serves on target.
Opening the second set was Namigata but she was broken in the first game. However, she broke back in the second game to equalize the score at 1-1. Birnerova broke her Japanese rival again in the third game and as she held her serve
in the fourth she took a 3-1 lead. The Czech broke Namigata again in the fifth by stroking a stunning crosscourt backhand return to force an error. She bagged the set and the match by restricting her opponent to only one game in the match.
Although, in the second set neither of the players had smashed an ace, Birnerova won becuase she was able to capitalize on fifty percent of her break points won against Namigata, who was only able to convert twenty five percent
of her break points won.
Eva Birnerova dominated most of the match and was able to secure a berth in the second round where she will be facing Russian Evgeniya Rodina.
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