Irina-Camelia Begu sails into the second round of 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience
Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu thrashed out Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-4, 6-1 to book her place in the second round of 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience in Italy.
The running season has proved to be an average one for the 20-year-old Begu. Although she did well on the ITF circuit winning her third title in Columbia earlier this year, she gave very ordinary performances on the Women’s Tennis
Association tour. The Romanian was knocked out in the qualifying round of 2011 Australian Open. She then fell at the final hurdle of 2011 Mexican open qualifying. However here at Marbella, Begu looked in great touch and required only 1 hour and 12 minutes
dispatching her opponent.
Begu started the match on a very positive note. She smashed a forehand winner down the line to make the first serve break of the match. Brianti fought back well to break back but the Romanian tennis-pro stayed firm and claimed
another game on her opponent’s serve to take the set 6-4.
The second set was completely dominated by Begu as she executed her forehand and backhand shots to perfection. She broke the serve on three occasions in the set and converted a long rally in her favour to set up three match points
for her. She then converted the first one with a powerful serve ace to complete a thumping victory.
Begu’s adopted ground play based strategy which allowed her to create difficult angles from wide of the court. With her on court agility she was able to save certain break points during the contest. The Romanian achieved an impressive
69 per cent first serve conversion ensuring her a strong position in the match. Her opponent on the other hand struggled to strike the ball cleanly. She looked solid in the first set but a loss in concentration in the second set resulted in a complete disaster
for her.
Ranked 138th in the WTA world rankings, Irina-Camelia Begu would take a lot of confidence from her win over a more experienced and higher ranked player. The 20-year-old displayed some high quality tennis and stuck to
her strengths. But if she wants to achieve similar results in her coming matches at the tournament, she will require a lot of hard work and determination.
Still in early days of her career, Begu is yet to prove her metal in the WTA arena. She certainly has the talent, skills and temperament to survive at the WTA level but she will have to be more aggressive in her approach and learn
to play from “close to the net”.
Tags: