Goerges/Zahlavova Strycova oust Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova in quarters – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
German-Czech tandem, Julia Goerges and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, hit back to overpower the wild card entrants, Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova, in a three-set nail-biter at the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012 on Thursday. They clobbered
a 1-6, 6-3, 10-5 victory against their rivals to book a spot in the semi-finals at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event taking place in Tokyo, Japan.
The high flying German-Czech duo made a drastic entry at this indoor hard court event. However, they remained calm and eventually carved out the victory in one hour and 17 minutes in their first encounter. As a result, Goerges and Zahlavova Strycova comfortably
secured a spot in the final four.
The wild card recipients thundered into the Putra Indoor Stadium. They drew the first blood in the second game and jumped to a 3-0 lead. After the German-Czech pair plucked their serve in the fourth game, Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova pocketed the last three
games and clinched the opener with a breadstick.
Goerges and Zahlavova Strycova made a fitting reply in the following set. They got the coveted break in the second game and cruised to a 3-0 lead. Apart from losing their edge in the seventh game, the German-Czech junction broke their opponents’ serve again
and pulled out the equaliser by winning six games to three.
The match could have gone in any direction but the German-Czech duo maintained their intensity took the initial lead. They jumped to a 4-2 lead before bagging the decider with a 10-5 success.
Overall, the German-Czech junction produced a better first serve share of 67 per cent as compared to their opponents’ 48 per cent and amazingly marked 27 out of 40 points on it. They also coughed fewer unforced errors and ended the match with 60 points.
Next challenges for the winning tandem are the fourth seeded junction of Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Czech Republic’s Kveta Peschke. The seeds trashed the Taiwanese-Spanish pair, Su-Wei Hsieh and Anabel Medina Garrigues, in straight sets to set up
this meeting. They lost their serve three times but capitalised on five out of 13 break chances to prevail.
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