Laura Pous-Tio outlasts Kristina Barrois to enter the third round – NURNBERGER Gastein Ladies 2011
Spanish tennis pro Laura Pous-Tio outlasted Kristina Barrois of Germany 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5) in a tight contest on Tuesday to advance into the third round of 2011 NURNBERGER Gastein Ladies in Austria.
Pous-Tio had to dig in deep to grab to overcome the 29-year-old German veteran in a match that lasted for nearly 2 hours. Known as a clay court specialist, Pous-Tio showed remarkable determination to clinch victory against a quality
opponent on the clay courts of Bad Gastein.
The match was played on an extremely competitive note. In a thrilling display of tennis, fate of both sets was decided through a tie-breaker. Barrois had a promising start to the match as she looked in control of the points early
in the opening set. Making her second serve break of the set in sixth game, she rocketed to a 5-1 lead with in the first 20 minutes. However she seemed to have lost her concentration afterwards as unforced errors started to come off her racquet more frequently.
Pous-Tio was never out of the contest. She is known for her agility and astonishing fighting character. Converting her first break point of the match, she battled back to stay in the set at 5-3. In an amazing turn of events, the
Spaniard recovered from 1-5 down to go 6-5 up in the set, denting her opponent’s confidence levels.
Barrois regrouped herself a bit and she managed to hold on to her sixth service game to force the set in to a tie-breaker. An outstanding battle took place between the two women as momentum shifted from one side to the other in
the tie-breaker. Pous-Tio held her nerves and blasted a forehand winner down the line to setup two match points for her and then converted the first one to take the set score lead 1-0.
The following set also tells a very similar story as the contestants fought hard for every available point. After several serve breaks were exchanged by the two tennis pros, the second set also had to be decided through a tie-breaker.
Pous-Tio showed no signs of fatigue as she ran on the court like a hare. Timing the ball exceptionally well, she created all sorts of problems from the baseline.
Barrois also raised the level of her game and pushed the challenger to her the limits. However it was Pous-Tio who finally prevailed as she played in a lovely slice shot to end the match in straight sets. Hitting an impressive
75 per cent first serve, the Spaniard help herself in the match whereas Barrois had a hard time finding any sort of rhythm in her serve as she achieved only a mere 55 per cent first serve, which also proved to be the difference at the end.
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