Julia Cohen survives past Tereza Mrdeza to reach the final – ATT Women’s Circuit 2011
Top seeded American Julia Cohen rallied past Croat Tereza Mrdeza in a tipsy turvy match at the ATT Women’s Circuit 2011, a clay court tournament from the ITF Women’s Circuit which is held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She registered
a 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 success over the 21-year-old Croat to book a title round spot on Friday.
World number 181 Cohen recreated her magic and tumbled over the Croat, ranked 116 places below her in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier Rankings, in almost two hours. Meeting for the third time this season, the American not only maintained
her winning record against Mrdeza but also got one step closer to grab her second year-to-date title.
The high spirited American quickly got on the winning path as she went on a six games killing spree through blistering forehands and backhands, subsequently pocketing a bagel. She was never threatened by the Croat as she faced
zero breakpoint and cashed in all three breakpoint opportunities to her advantage.
The unseeded Croat gathered his energy in the second set and finally came on the score sheet for the first time when he held his opening serve. Later she maintained consistency in her game and held her entire serves through angled
shots down the lines. Mrdeza brushed off entire breakpoints came across and capitalised on one opportunity to her advantage to seal the equaliser by winning seven games to five.
Cohen sought the right path again in the final set as she smoothly held entire serves after warding off all breakpoints faced. In addition to this, she converted one out of many breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to clinch
the decider with a 6-3 victory.
The American had a monotonous season so far. She reached the quarters at Rancho Santa Fe but fell to a five match losing streak. Cohen again made a quarter-final berth (at Irapuato ITF) but fell to another five match losing streak.
She lifted her game in style at Bangkok ITF where she made a final berth but saw another five match losing spell. However, the American finally maintained consistency in her game after this spell and made final eight showings at Bogota, Vancouver, Sarajevo,
Telavi and Asuncion ITF events. She then lifted her maiden title of the season at Yerevan and made another final berth at Rosario before entering this tournament.
The highest ranked player of the tournament, Cohen will square off against Slovakian qualifier Romana Tabak who slew Norwegian qualifier Ulrikke Eikeri with a breadstick to set up this clash.
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