Laura Robson beats Garbine Muguruza to reach the final qualifier – China Open 2012
World number 57, Laura Robson, ousted the 106th ranked Spaniard, Garbine Muguruza, to book a place in the second qualifying round of the China Open in Beijing. She registered straight sets score line of 6-3, 6-3 taking
just an hour and 20 minutes.
The 18-year-old Briton commenced the match with a serve hold and coupled it up with a breakpoint in the fourth game. She led the scores with 3-1 at that stage. However, a breakthrough back for the Spanish teenager allowed her to
equalize the scores and she did with a comfortable serve hold.
Things looked good for the British number one who was a better contestant at the hard courts of Beijing. It was just a matter of time before Robson grabbed another breakthrough and led the scores 4-3 in the opening set. This time
around she protected the breakpoint with a serve hold and forced her opponent into a ‘do or die’ situation.
Muguruza couldn’t handle the onslaught of the left-handed rival and lost the third breakpoint of the match allowing Robson to grab the opening set. Trailing a set down, the Spaniard needed a good start to the second phase of the
encounter and she did; won a breakthrough after a hard fought battle. However, she couldn’t take benefit of that and lost the breakthrough back to her rival in the following game.
Robson didn’t falter again on her serve and clubbed on to the second breakpoint in the fourth game that gave her an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the second set. She held her serve after a bit of trouble and converted another breakpoint
to make it 5-1. She just had to hold serve and the match would have been ended two games earlier. However, a little cameo from the Spaniard just earned her the breakpoint that wasn’t good enough to keep the match alive.
Laura Robson is seeded fourth in the qualifying stage and the strongest contender to book a berth in the main round of the tournament. She will be locking horns against the likes of the 15th seed Swede professional,
Johanna Larsson, in the final qualifier.
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