Kurumi Nara, Yurika Sema move into quarterfinal round – International Beijing Challenger 2011
Unseeded Kurumi Nara of Japan eased past number one seed from Thailand Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 3-0 on Thursday to make it to the third round of 2011 Beijing International Challengers Series here in Beijing, China. The Japanese
tennis pro looked in commanding form at the hard courts of City’s Tennis Centre as she required only 59 minutes dispatching his opponent.
Nara looked in a very attacking mood as she smashed his ferocious forehand and backhand winners all over the court in a completely one sided contest. Breaking the serve twice, she raced to an impassable 5-2 lead in the set, serving
for the match. Showing some great hard court skills on his next service game, the Japanese pocketed the opening set to take 1-0 lead in the set score.
Tanasugarn looked a bit out of sorts as she struggled to get any timing on his shots what so ever. Looking short of answers, the Thai lacked fire power in certain areas of the game. It will be fair to say that her on-court movement
was poor and she paid the heavy price for too many unforced errors.
Nara continued to play her natural game freely in the following set as well. Breaking her rival early in the second set, he put himself in driving position in the match. Leading the game score 2-0, she converted her second break
chance to take 3-0 lead. Tanasugarn, who had problems with her left leg throughout the match, decided to retire at that stage after having a meeting with her personal trainer. She was very disappointed with the way things went for her but she aimed for a stronger
showing on her next appearance on the tour.
Firing three serves aces and converting 67 per cent of the points on her first serve, Nara played a very controlled game play. Converting five out of nine break points during the contest, the Japanese made most of the opportunities
presented to her. Tanasugarn’s defence was weak as she managed to save only four out of nine break points against her. She was also unable to come up her A game on the big points and she failed to win any of the four break points.
In another match, Japanese tennis pro Yurika Sema secured a thumping 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Caroline Garcia of France to enter third round of the tournament.
Sema broke the serve at regular intervals in a match that lasted for only 1 hour and 47 minutes. Handling the pressure absolutely brilliantly, she clinched the second set in tie-breaker 7-2 to ensure her straight sets victory.
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