Kristina Barrois stoops to Eva Birnerova in the opening qualifying round – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
German veteran, Kristina Barrois, tested the 107th ranked Czech contestant, Eva Birnerova, in the opening qualifying round clash of the Sony Ericsson Open. The match ended with the scores of 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in favour of
the Czech.
It was the first face-off between the two experienced contestants and they didn’t disappoint at all. A gruelling clash that left both the contestants completely exhausted was witnessed at the hard courts of Miami.
The German commenced the match with a serve hold and her rival followed her as well. Another successful serve holds at both ends kept the scores together at 2-2. Birnerova was the one who broke the shackles and came out with all-round
outbreak. She broke serve to take the lead and clasped the lead four games with another eye-startling breakpoint in the seventh game.
Barrois was struggling to make an impact but wasn’t rocked back on her back foot. She lost the opening set in dismal fashion but her breathtaking reply in the second set was worth watching. She dragged the game away from the 27-years-old
Czech with a resounding lead of 4-0. It included a couple of breakpoints.
The Czech replied back with a breakthrough in the fifth game that diminished the trail but just for a while. The German stunned her rival with another thumping breakthrough in the eighth game that tied the set scores at one apiece.
It was clear that both players were not ready to bow down easily especially the German veteran. She was rocked back with a thumping breakthrough in the opening game by the Czech but she kept the fight on and didn’t allow easy points
to her opponent.
In a ‘do or die’ game, Barrois stunned the superior ranked contestant with a breakthrough that kept the set alive for her and more importantly tied the scores at 5-5. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t hold her opponent for long
and lost the serve game right afterwards that reinstated the lead of the Czech.
Birnerova just had to hold her serve to end this taxing encounter and she did that with ease. She faces the Russian starlet, Anastasia Pivovarova, in the next round.
Tags: