Jie Zheng registers an upset against Marion Bartoli in round three – Australian Open 2012
World number nine, Marion Bartoli, was capsized by the Chinese tennis ace, Jie Zheng, during the third round contest of the Australian Open. On day six of the tournament, both player locked horns at Show Court 3 situated in Melbourne,
Australia. Unbeaten run of Zheng this season continues with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over the French.
Ironically, the inferior ranked Zheng had defeated the French tennis ace in the same draw last year. It was a three-setter last year but this time no one is able to beat the Chinese tennis ace who has compiled a massive list of
victims and most of them are ranked superior than her. The only time when she lost from Bartoli was in the Monterrey Open in 2009.
Bartoli is famous for her aggression on the court and at the sidelines as well but this time it backfired badly at her. She committed multiple double faults and was not ready to compromise for the pace on her second serves. Her
loss was suicidal as Zheng merely had to anything to come up with a successful breakthrough time and again. First four games were bagged by the Chinese tennis ace as she broke serve twice in the meantime.
Two more serve breaks were exchanged at the end of the first set between the two players that were good enough to ensure a set lead for the inferior ranked Chinese. Bartoli was not reading the script correctly; Zheng opponent was
extremely clever to incorporate the drop shot game style into her play to cut the pace of thumping returns from Bartoli.
Double handed game style of Bartoli forced her to extend her body to reach out for those drop shots and down the line winners. The Chinese played within her comfort zone and capitalized on her serves; started the second set with
a successful serve game and continued to mount pressure on her opponent with the delicately placed drop shots.
In the sixth game of the set, the French committed two unforced errors in the form of double faults. 38th ranked Chinese tennis ace, Zheng, capitalized on the errors and broke serve to take the lead. This breakthrough
was good enough to seal the second set and extend the unbeaten run of Zheng intact.
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