Greta Arn and Anabel Medina Garrigues through to the second round at the 2011 Estoril Open
Number eight seed Greta Arn of Hungry defeated Portuguese Maria Joao Koehler 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday to book a second round berth at the 2011 Estoril Open in Portugal.
Arn made a positive start to the match and looked to assert dominance over her opponent right from the start. In the opening set she created a lot of scoring opportunities with her strong aggressive intent. She also played in her clever chip shorts every now and then to surprise the challenger. Koehler fell into the trap and leaked crucial points. Arn broke the serve twice in the set to established firm control over the contest. She then held on to her serve games quite comfortably to claim the opener 6-2.
Koehler showed her determination and strong fighting ability in the following set as she turned the tables to level the set score 1-1. Arn was cruising to an easy victory however the Portuguese held her nerves and made the crucial serve break in the set to force the match into the decider.
Both players traded serve breaks as the final set started. Koehler continued to play with confidence and converted her first break chance in the set. However Arn made most of her vast experience as she raised the level of her game to make double serve break to earn a 5-3 lead in the set. She claimed the next game on her serve conveniently to seal the match after 1 hour and 56 minutes of exciting play.
Although Arn made 10 doubles faults in the match, she covered that up with her strong and powerful ground play. The 32-year-old veteran converted nearly 75 per cent of the points on her first serve and broke the serve 5 times to gain control in the contest. Koehler put up a brave fight but lacked firepower in several areas of the game. The 18-year-old is a still fresh at the international level and will be hopeful for a better display of tennis on her return to the WTA tour.
Great Arn is having a dream run on the WTA tour this season. She claimed second WTA title of her career earlier this year at Auckland. Following her consistent performances, she has climbed to world number 48 in the world rankings. If Arn continues her special form, she could be a real favourite for the ATP 250 series tournament.
Spanish Anabel Medina Garrigues also made it to the second round of the WTA event after defeating Romanian sensation Simona Halep in two tight sets 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). Garrigues will face Greta Arn in her next match-up at the tournament.
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