Grandin/Uhlirova struggle past Barrois/Zakopalova to reach the quarters – New Haven Open 2011
Unseeded duo of Natalie Grandin from South Africa and Vladimira Uhlirova of Czech Republic stood victorious against the German-Czech combination of Kristina Barrois and Klara Zakopalova, in the opening round of New Haven Open at
Yale, on Tuesday afternoon.
The contest exhibited thrilling display of high quality tennis from both teams, competing on the hard courts of the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Grandin and Uhlirova laboured extremely
hard for one hour and thirty nine minutes before they finally claimed victory at 6-7(2), 6-2, 12-10, to make it to the quarter-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Series tournament.
The contest remained evenly poised throughout, with both teams throwing out their best at each other to come out as the winner. Barrois and Zakopalova fought valiantly till the very last minute of the contest but it was just the
matter of time that they remained fruitless in the end. They bagged the opening set in the tie breaker round but went through a terrible slump in the very next set to let Grandin and Uhlirova back in the game. The final set went to the wire before Grandin
and Uhlirova delivered the final blow in the last minutes of play by seizing an all-important mini-break to seal victory in the end.
Grandin and Uhlirova banged 60 per cent of their serve on target and secured 30 out of 44 first serve points to get the better of their opponents, who pocketed 24 out of their 41 points to finish on the losing side. Barrois and
Zakopalova frittered away six break opportunities before converting one and suffered three out of six serve breaks from the belligerent opponents to lose the game.
The opener witnessed an early exchange of serve breaks from both sides, followed by a routine game to take the set in to a tie breaker round. Barrois and Zakopalova took their chances in the tie breaker round and it paid off, letting
them take the first set at 7-6(2). Grandin and Uhlirova retaliated very strongly in the following set and nailed two serve breaks to level the matchup after clinching the second set at 6-2. They continued with their winning impetus in the ultimate decider
as well and closed out the contest at 12-10 after going through some real tough time.
Grandin and Uhlirova will take on the winner of the match between the top seeded duo of Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, taking on the combination of Maria Kondratieva and Sophie Lefevre, in the next round of the tournament.
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