Huber/Raymond bounce over Hlavackova/Hradecka to capture title – New Haven Open 2012
Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond of USA came fighting after losing the first set to beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic 4-6, 6-0, 10-4 in the New Haven Open final on Saturday.
It took the world number one team one hour and 12 minutes to register this close win.
Huber/Raymond and Hlavackova/Hradecka made a stable start, as they held their serve in the first four games to equalise the score at 4-4. The Czech duo secured a breakthrough in the ninth one and made the most of their advantage
to close it 6-4.
Hlavackova/Hradecka smashed three aces and did not commit any double fault in the opening set. The Czech contestants maintained a first serve percentage of 73 and pocketed 16 of the 22 points on them.
Huber and Raymond changed their strategy after getting stunned in the first set and started to play aggressively. They completely unsettled their opponents, breaking them three times and capturing six games in a row to complete
a bagel 6-0.
The Americans were near error free on the second returns, bagging eight of the 10 points on them. The right-handers saved all the four break points they faced and converted three of the five they received in the second set.
Carrying the winning momentum into the super tie-breaker, Huber and Raymond clinched five of the opening six points to attain a 5-1 lead. The top seeds capitalised on that early advantage, maintaining it till the finishing point
and winning it 10-4.
Huber and Raymond completely turned around the tone of the match with their flawless performance in the second set. Huber said in the post match press conference, "We've lost a second set 6-0 before and won a tie-break, and today
we won a second set 6-0 and won a tie-break. It's a clean slate going into a tie-break - but winning the set before it 6-0 only helps. Right Lisa?"
Raymond agreed, "For sure. Even though a match tie-break is its own entity, winning 6-0 going into it gives you momentum. That can change, but going into it today we were feeling good and we knew we could put the pedal to the metal
and play another five minutes of the solid tennis we had played for the last 20."
Ranked first jointly with her partner, Raymond won her 79th title on the WTA Tour. She leads even Roger Federer in this aspect, as the Swiss Maestro has 76 singles titles.
Tags: