Laura Pous-Tio crushed Polona Hercog in the opening round of the Andalucia Tennis Experience
The local crowd at Marbella, Spain, erupted with loud roars as home favourite Laura Pous-Tio won her first round match against the Slovak, Polona Hercog, at the Andalucia Tennis Experience on Monday. Pous-Tio concluded her
straight sets victory with utmost ease at 6-1, 6-2, taking just 67 minutes of play to eject Hercog out of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament.
26-year-old Spaniard faced Hercog for the first time in her career and gave absolutely no chance to the Slovak to have her impact over the game. Pous-Tio carried on her brilliant form at Marbella, registering her 17th win
of the running WTA season and making to the next stage of the competition.
Apart from disappointingly low first serve accuracy, Pous-Tio beat her opponent in all segments of the game. Her serve percentage was merely 47 but she bagged 20 out of 28 points on it to get the competitive advantage. The
Spaniard’s baseline defence was rock solid and she successfully defended three break points she faced in the match.
The 20-year-old Slovak clearly lacked experience, crumbling under intense match pressure right from the beginning. Hercog took off the opener with plenty of errant strokes, letting her opponent to strike an immediate serve
break in the very first game. She had an opportunity to break the opponent’s serve in the fourth game and bring some excitement in the game, but the Slovak was denied by the sheer brilliance of Pous-Tio.
The powerful forehand of the Spaniard worked perfectly for her in the game and three consecutive cross-court winners earned her a second break point in the first set to reach an impassable lead of 5-1. Hercog finally submitted
the opener to her opponent at 1-6, hoping to put up a better effort in the next.
Things became even worse for Hercog in the second set as Pous-Tio ignited the set with great aggression, winning 22 out of 34 serve points. The Slovak held her serve in the opening two games before the Spaniard belted the
first serve break to get into 4-2. Hercog received two opportunities at different occasions when she could have broke back in to the contest, but the bleak Slovak frittered away both chances to remain on the losing end.
Pous-Tio continued dominating the contest and gradually pushing her opponent out of the contest by her error-free tennis. A decisive serve break from her at 5-2 ensured victory for her and a pass to the second round of the
Andalucia Tennis Experience.
The Spanish will be taking on the winner of the clash between the top seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain, due to be played on Tuesday.
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