Jie Zheng thrashes Alberta Brianti in 1st round – China Open 2011
Chinese Jie Zheng thrashed Alberta Brianti in the opening round of the China Open 2011. Both players battled it out on outdoor hard courts for a lengthy two hours and thirty two minutes at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China. Chinese Zheng jumped back from a set down to secure a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory against Italian Brianti.
Serving for the opening round of the match was Zheng, who expertly handled her first service game and posted herself on the scoreboard at 1-0. In the following four games the players broke each other back-to-back and by the sixth game as Brianti held serve she pushed the score to a tie at 3-3, then 4-4 as the players broke each other back-to-back in the following two games.
During the ninth game Zheng battled four deuces to ward off Brianti, however, she was unsuccessful and lost a game at a very important stage in the game and as Brianti held serve in the tenth game she clogged a 6-4 victory over Zheng.
Zheng again opened the second set and rolled the scoreboard at 1-0 by winning on her serve. She was first to break and capitalize on a mini break and again held serve to lead the scoreboard with a 3-0. In the fourth and the fifth game Zheng had switched on her agame and she again benefitted from a break and hold of serve to further lead with a 5-0.
The crowd thought Zheng would achieve a flawless bagel victory, however, that did not happen as Brianti won only one game out of the seven played. The next Chinese super star, Zheng managed to bag a near flawless breadstick victory,
By the end of the second set the players had bagged a set each and opening the decisive set was Brianti and this time she was able to hold her service game along with breaking her adversary on her first serve. In doing so, she was able to place herself on the scoreboard at 2-0 and further increased the gap to 3-0 and as she broke her Chinese opponent in the fourth game again, she was leading with a 4-0.
The crowd boosted the home girls performance as she finally made a comeback by breaking the Italian immediately in the next game and she then held serve to reduce the deficit. In the next two games the players again held serve and the score board had rolled at 5-3.
In the ninth game Brianti double faulted and endorsed a game to Zheng, the crowd boosted her confidence and performance. As she held serve in the tenth game the score was tied at 5-5 and she was able to completely reduce the deficit.
Zheng achieved a milestone in the match as she broke Brianti for the last time, she was now only a game away from clogging the match. By smashing a forehand down the T, she sealed her victory of the match to secure a place in the second round.
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