Klara Zakopalova edges past Lourdes Lino in the second round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience
World number 34 Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic, clinched victory over the 46th ranked Spaniard, Lourdes Dominguez Lino after an enthralling contest in the second round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience
at Marbella, Spain. In the two hour and twenty nine minutes contest being played on Wednesday, Zakopalova set the final score at 7-6(3), 1-6, 7-6(0), to reach the quarter-final of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament.
The 29-year-old Czech marked a second straight victory over Lino, whom she defeated on the clay courts of Vina del Mar in 2008. Zakopalova registered her 12th win of the current year, improving her
head-to-head record against the Spanish to 2-1.
An electrifying game of tennis was witnessed at Marbella with the two contestants straining extremely hard to come on top. After winning the opener in a tie breaker, the Czech submitted the next set to her opponent but bounced
back into the game to win the nail biting third set.
30-year-old Lino’s poor serve led her down in the game. She delivered just 35 per cent first serve on target with 11 expensive double faults, which eventually wore her out in the game. The Spaniard amazingly won 12 serve
breaks out of her 20 chances but surprisingly ended being on the losing side. Lino failed to bag crucial points in the game, a vital ability well displayed by Zakopalova throughout the contest.
Sixth seeded Zakopalova got the early advantage in the opener by breaking in the third game but the Spaniard levelled the scores at 3-3. The Czech capitalized upon seven double faults conceded by her opponent to sting her
fifth break point of the first set to reach 6-5, serving for the set. Lino constructed her fifth serve break as well and took the opener into the tie breaker round, where she collapsed to lose the first set 6-7(3).
The Spaniard proved devastating in the next and blew away the confidence of Zakopalova by breaking her serve four times. Lino had a strict check over her unforced errors and gave away no double faults this time to reach set
point at 5-1. She served out convincingly at 6-1 to level the contest with one set a piece.
Lino’s game took a turn for the worse in the decisive set as she spilled out four double faults and plenty of errant strokes. However, she hung in the third set with three serve breaks to enforce a tie breaker once more.
Zakopalova wiped off her opponent in the decider, reeling off seven straight points to end the contest at 7-6(0) and book a berth in the quarter-finals.
Zakopalova will take on the winner of the clash between the Romanian qualifier, Irina-Camelia Begu and the Spanish wildcard entrant Estrella Cabeza Candela on Thursday.
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