Jill Craybas jumps past Jelena Pandzic into qualifying 2nd round – Mercury Open 2011
Jill Craybas and Jelena Pandzic were meeting for the first time on the hard courts of the La Costa Resort and Spa, at the Mercury Open 2011. The 37-year-old (Craybas) won with 7-6(2), 6-1 victory over the 28-year-old (Pandzic)
in 1 hour, 31 minutes and 12 seconds.
Craybas was in her form and opened the set by smashing an ace and with extreme precision she struck zero double faults. The American (Craybas) won 57% of her total serve points and 9 of 13 on her Croatian opponent's (Pandzic) second
serves. Craybas played a strong ground game which enabled her to pound and track down almost all the shots that came from Pandzic.
The American was first to take off on the scorecard, and both broke each other twice in a neck-to-neck run, forcing the set into a tie-breaker. Although, the set was a close shave between both the players, Craybas won the tie-breaker
7-2.
The overall set saw; Pandzic smash an ace and strike one line fault. Whereas, Craybas had struck no double faults and smashed no aces. Craybas scored an above average 57% in her total serve points along with an average return (51%).
Although it was a close shave between both the players Craybas won the set by nine points more than Pandzic’s.
Craybas’s performance was boosted by the spectators and had a near flawless set victory against her opponent. Pandzic, on the other hand had struck two double faults and two aces.
The American had a good first serve winning ninety percent of her first serve points she stood her ground and like a wall pounced on all the shots that the Croatian threw at her. In addition, she won 46% points more than her opponent’s
in her total return points and broke Pandzic three times.
However, the Croatian’s return serve was as if she lost her balance and fell flat on her face, attaining only 10% of her first return. From there onwards it was like falling into an abyss. Her defence was very poor and she was
not able to win any break points to her advantage.
Despite her age, the 37-year-old won the match with an overall win of 25 points more than the 28-year-old Pandzic’s in the total set points of the match and hence lead the score board 2-0.
The American has played 776 singles matches in her professional career and won 388 matches. This year she contested in 27 matches out of which she was able to bag a meagre seven wins. However, she reached her career high singles
ranking of 39 on the 17th of April, 2006.
Tags: