Heather Watson topples Misaki Doi in the semi-finals – HP Japan Open 2012
World number 71, Heather Watson, successfully rallied into the final of the HP Japan Women’s Open 2012 on Saturday. She gave a straight-sets defeat, 7-6(2), 7-5, to the local challenger, Misaki Doi, on the hard courts of Osaka.
Talking to the media Watson stated, "I had played Misaki a few times before and today was definitely the best she's played against me - especially her forehand, she was giving it a really good hit. I knew it would be tough and
I just tried to stay as focused as I could because it was so close, and every point could make a difference. I'm very excited for tomorrow - all the hard work and long hours have been for this. I've played a few doubles finals before, so I have a little experience,
but it will be different playing singles. I'll do my best.”
The 20-year-old Brit was unable to pick the momentum at the start of the initial set and bestowed the initial two games upon her rival, marking a 2-love lead. Gradually, she picked up pace but Doi cashed the British challenger's
serve in the sixth game. After that point, the two participants held their serve throughout and this caused the score line to even out three times. The British professional terminated the opener with a 7-6(2) score line after a tie-breaker round.
Both the players were unable to hold their initial serves in the second set. However, they provided each other with tough competition, squaring down the score line after every subsequent game. The players took turns to break each
other’s serve in the set but Watson nudged forward to clinch the last two games and carefully plucked away the set with a 7-5 win.
The 21-year-old, Doi, had a relatively lower initial serve precision of 68 percent, bagging away 31 of 56 first and just 10 of 26 second delivery points. In comparison to that, the British right-hander had a good initial serve
of 80 percent, pocketing away 38 of 65 first and eight of 16 second serve points.
For the final, the British challenger will contest against the Chinese, Kai-Chen Chang.
Tags: