Johanna Larsson and Monica Niculescu move ahead at the 2011 Estoril Open
Swede tennis-pro Johanna Larsson eased past Magali De Lattre of Portugal 6-3, 6-1 on Monday to reach second round at the 2011 Estoril Open.
Larsson had a disappointing start to the running season. In her first Women’s Tennis Association tournament of the year at Auckland she was knocked out in the first round. She then fell in the opening rounds of 2011 Hobart and
2011 Australian Open as well. BNP Paribas Open, Sony Ericsson Open and 2011 Marbella Open also resulted in a disappointment for the Swede tennis player as she failed to reach the past the first hurdle of any of the tournaments.
However, in her clash against De Lattre at the red clay courts tournament she was finally able to cross that first barrier as she booked her place in the second round.
Larsson made an impressive start to the match as she converted a long rally in her favour to make the firs t serve break of the match. The 22-year-old had another chance of breaking the serve in eight game of the set to earn a
significant 5-2 lead in the set, serving for the set. She held on to her next serve game to take the opener with the score line of 6-3.
The second set was completely dominated by Larsson as she dropped only one game in the set to seal the match after one hour and two minutes of exciting play. Larsson smashed her wonderful backhand shots all over the court and overshadowed
her opponent with some craft tennis. Her serve was accurate most of the times as she secured crucial point right through the contest.
Her strong baseline play forced the challenger into making critical mistakes and she created difficult angles to cope with wide of the court securing 60 per cent of the points on return. De Lattre was unable to handle the pressure
and her poor shot selection weakened her position in the match. The 23-year-old converted only two out six break points she was presented with and hence paid the price.
In another match Romanian Monica Niculescu ousted Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three tight sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to move ahead at the ATP 250 series tournament.
Niculescu claimed the opening set with a lovely forehand winner. Mattek-Sands put up a brave fight in the following set and made the required serve break to level the set score 1-1. However in the decider Niculescu raised the level
of her game and came up with a special performance to break the serve twice and complete her important win.
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