Heather Watson ends Ons Jabeur cameo in the second qualifier – Roland Garros French Open 2012
World number 109, Heather Watson, ended the cameo of 17-year-old Tunisian, Ons Jabeur, in the second qualifier of the Roland Garros French Open on Thursday. She survived the first set tie-breaker 7-6(5) and eased to a straight
sets win with 6-3 second set scores.
Briton booming star, Watson is in sublime run of form having lost just three matches in her previous ten encounters. Her victims included the likes of Chinese tennis ace, Shuai Zheng, who fell in the second qualifier and 60th
ranked Czech professional, Lucie Hradecka.
The pressure paid off in the opening set as the Tunisian teen went down a break in the second game. Watson saved a breakpoint in the following point to post a mammoth lead of 3-0. Both players capitalized on their serves and didn’t
allow their opponent to sneak near to a breakpoint. However, the deadlock was broken by the underdog from Tunisia who kept the set alive by breaking serve in the ninth game.
A serve hold at both ends enforced the tie-breaker round. Experience of the Briton helped her to steal the set at the end. Jabeur fought extremely hard but couldn’t handle the guile of her rival.
First four games of the second set went by without much drama; a swap of breakpoints kept the scores together at 3-3 but the downturn for the Tunisian started with the seventh game. She lost the breakpoint and Watson thumped her
to a 40: love serve hold.
The Tunisian lost her concentration and lost another breakpoint in the ninth game that rounded off the proceedings of the match. It was a good fighting performance from the 482nd ranked Tunisian who would be proud of
her achievement.
So this performance proves that she has been in stunning form at the moment and that might help her post some psychological pressure on her upcoming rival who is the Italian starlet, Anna Floris. Both players will lock horns to
fight for the place in the main round of the contest. The 20-year-old Briton will enter the match as the hot favourite and must reach the main round to break into the list of Top-100 players of the world.
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