Irina Ramialison upsets Manon Arcangioli to enter title-round – Antalya ITF 2012
In an all-French affair, Irina Ramialison made an epic comeback from a set down to outclass her seventh seeded compatriot Manon Arcangioli in a three-set thriller at Antalya ITF 2012 on Sunday. She nudged up a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 victory against the 18-year-old to power into the final showdown at this ITF (International Tennis Federation) Women’s Circuit event taking place in Antalya, Turkey.
Seeded eighth in this event, Ramialison made a drastic entry at this outdoor clay court event taking place from 17th to 23rd December. However, she stayed focused and eventually carved out the victory with a bagel. After earning the fame in almost two and half hours, the lower ranked Frenchwoman comfortably secured a place in the final round and inched closer towards the title.
The left-handed Arcangioli made a comfortably entry at the Go Tennis Academy. She quickly jumped to a 5-1 lead with two breaks of serve. Despite losing her edge afterwards, the higher seed remained calm and eventually got the breakthrough in the last game. She warded off three out of five breakpoints she encountered and cashed three out of five break chances to clobber a 7-5 success.
Ramialison made a fitting reply in the proceeding set. She unleashed barrage of groundstrokes to go on a six-game tear. The lower ranked Frenchwoman was never challenged with any breakpoint and capitalised on three out of seven break chances to pull out the equaliser with a bagel.
Ranked 589th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Ramialison carried her rhythm in the following set. After Arcangioli kept her serve in the fourth game, the eighth seed went on a four-game tear and clinched the decider with a 6-2 score line. She dusted away the only breakpoint she faced and converted both break opportunities to her advantage.
The winning Frenchwoman will face off the third seed, Isabella Shinikova, in the title-round. The Bulgarian seed crushed fifth seeded Victoria Kan in straight sets to progress. She penned down a 6-2, 6-2 success against the Russian in almost one hour and 15 minutes. Shinikova dropped her serve twice but remained focused to advance at this event.
Tags: