Kirsten Flipkens defeats Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the first round at the 2011 Grand Prix De SAR
Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium ousted Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa in two sets to arrive at the second round of the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem on Tuesday. The Belgian moved past her opponent in one hour and eighteen
minutes with a score line of 6-3, 6-3.
Flipkens, turned pro in 2003, is at a current ranking of world number 104 in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) singles rankings list. The Belgian looked determined and enthusiastic to reach the final spot of the $220,000 event.
In 2009, the Belgian reached the third round of Wimbledon and the US Open respectively. At Wimbledon, she reached the third round defeating Hungarian Agnes Szavay and Elena Baltacha in the first two rounds before being defeated
by the semi-finalist Dinara Safina of Russia with a breadstick and a bagel. She then moved on to play the US Open where she again didn’t make it past the third round and lost the match to ultimate defending champion Kim Clijsters with a 6-0, 6-2 score. She
moved past Australian Jelena Dokic and Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first two rounds to reach the third spot.
Playing for the first time against each other, the Belgian stayed on the top of her 23-year-old contender during the whole match and didn’t allow her to bounce back at any point. The first set saw Flipkens firing in two aces and
65 percent of her first serves. The 25-year-old Belgian managed to register 64 percent of points on her first serves whereas Soler-Espinosa stayed behind with 58 percent on conversion. Soler-Espinosa scored three aces and converted five of eight break points
successfully in the first set. She lost the opening set with a loss of three games.
After her loss in the first set, Soler-Espinosa gave up all her hopes and didn’t perform well. Flipkens on the other hand, purified her game play and escalated her first serve percentage to 72 and won 77 percent of points on them.
The Belgian pro saved 100 percent break points in return and broke Soler-Espinosa’s serves in the second set to obtain a 2-0 lead. Soler-Espinosa delivered 57 percent of her first serves and won a meager 50 percent on conversion which were a lot lower for
the Spaniard to counter attack. Due to her poor performance at the tournament the Spaniard lost her first round match in straight sets with a loss of six games.
Flipkens will face lucky loser, Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in the second round of the tournament. Daniilidou defeated Urszula Radwanska of Poland in three sets to reach the second round of the tournament.
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