Iveta Benesova fends of Anastasiya Yakimova in 1st round – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2011
Czech Iveta Benesova fends of Bulgarian Anastasiya Yakimova in the opening draw of the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2011. It took only one hour and twenty two minutes for the higher ranked Czech to get rid of the lower ranked Bulgarian
Yakimova on outdoor hard courts of Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan. The Czech secured a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the unseeded Yakimova on the 27th of September 2011.
The two players had met just a few days ago in Seoul and were familiar with each other’s style. Initiating the opening round of the match was Yakimova, who just won the toss and by winning her service game, she spun the score board
to 1-0. Trailing behind was Benesova, who too was able to successfully place herself on the score board.
The former world number 25 (Benesova) broke Yakimova for the first time in the set during the third game and then held her serve in the fourth to reel off a 3-1 score against 24-year-old Yakimova. In the two subsequent games the
players won on their own serves but by the end of the seventh game Yakimova had double faulted and endorsed a game to Benesova at such a crucial stage.
Benesova was leading the score board by two breaks and a game at 5-2, and was now serving for the set. As the Czech served for the set in the eighth game, she smashed an ace at 40-love and hacked away the opening set with a 6-2
score.
Despite her age, Benesova did not setup a single break point chance in the opening set and by smashing an ace, restricting her opponent, and by minimizing her double faults; she was able to gain one up in the match.
The second set of the match was again opened by Yakimova and during the first four games the players matched blow for blow to square off the score at 2-2. They then broke each other back-to-back and the score was again tied at
3-3.
During the seventh and eighth game the players again held their respective serves to level the score at 4-4. Neither of the players was ready to let go but a double fault from Yakimova was a lucky break for Benesova as she then
went on to holding her serve in the tenth game and served the match to secure a place in the second round of the event.
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