Julia Goerges squalls past Monica Niculescu into the second round – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
World number 21, Julia Goerges, hammered away the 47th ranked Romanian star, Monica Niculescu, in her opening clash of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Monday. She bagged the battle in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 utilizing just
an hour and 17 minutes at the hard courts of Tokyo.
A look at the past of the two athletes reveals one victory apiece for both players against one another. However, they haven’t squared-off for the past four years so it was technically a novel experience for both players to face
each. Goerges fired in three aces and converted seven of the allotted breakpoints to round off the clash in her favour. She won 63 off the total 107 points contested that translate into an impressive 59% conversion rate.
First four points went in favour of the 23-year-old German who carried the momentum into the second game to win the first breakpoint with a stunning winner down the line. She held her serve to make it 3-0 in her favour and after
squandering two opportunities in the following game, she finally capitalized on the third breakpoint to take a resounding lead of 4-0.
The usual problem for Goerges erupted in the fifth game and she sprayed her serves to gift a breakpoint back to her opponent. It lowered the trail of 1-4 for Niculescu and the following serve hold further enhanced her chances of
a possible comeback.
However, the control over serves was regained by Goerges who bagged four consecutive points in the seventh game to retain the lead of two games. The 25-year-old Romanian had an opportunity to break serve in the final game but couldn’t
convert the allotted chance; lost the first half.
The German diva commenced the second set in cracking fashion; winning the breakpoint in the third game and protecting in with a serve hold to make it 3-1. Niculescu failed to hold serve that forced her to a trail of 2-5. Moreover,
she couldn’t break serve to keep the match alive in the following return game.
Julia Goerges is scheduled to play the ninth seed Frenchwoman, Marion Bartoli, in round two.
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