Kops-Jones/Spears down Lisicki/Raymond to enter final showdown – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
American junction, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears, stunned the German-American pair, Sabine Lisicki and Lisa Raymond, in straight sets at the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012 on Friday. They nudged up a 6-4, 6-3 success against their opponents to power
into the title-round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event taking place in Tokyo, Japan.
The American tandem, who is coming off winning a tournament, displayed top notch performance to outsmart Lisicki and Raymond in their first encounter. As a result, Kops-Jones and Spears progressed into the final round at this outdoor hard court event.
Kops-Jones and Spears thundered into the Ariake Coliseum. They unleashed flurry of groundstrokes and reeled off four games in a row before their rivals could hold on. Apart from losing their edge in the sixth game, the Americans held their composure and
eventually sealed the opener by winning six games to four.
The high flying tandem kept momentum rolling in the following set. They got the coveted break in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. The Americans held their remaining serves with poise and cashed in another break chance in the last game, eventually
clicking the set with a 6-3 win.
All in all, the Americans impressively warded off nine out of 10 breakpoints they faced and cashed in four out of 14 break chances to steal the show. They produced a lower first serve share of 64 per cent as compared to their rivals’ 71 per cent but impressively
clicked 26 out of 32 points on it.
Kops-Jones and Spears will face off the fourth seeds, Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Czech Republic’s Kveta Peschke, in the final showdown. They made an epic comeback from a set down to outsmart the German-Czech tandem, Julia Goerges and Barbora Zahlavova
Strycova, in three sets to set up this date.
Groenefeld and Peschke made a disappoint start and lost the opening set. However, they made a stunning reply and pulled out the equaliser with a breadstick. The seeds maintained their intensity in the super tie-breaker and ultimately carved out the victory
with a 1-6, 6-1, 10-7 score line.
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