Leticia Costas-Moreira overpowers Andreja Klepac in qualifiers – Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012
Seventh seed, Leticia Costas-Moreira, tumbled the Slovenian contender, Andreja Klepac, in a three-set thriller at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012, a red clay court tournament taking place in Bad Gastein, Austria. She summed up a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory
against the world number 400 to progress into the final round of the qualifying competition on Sunday.
The Spanish seed lost his track in the second set but prevailed in the last set again, eventually carving out the victory in two hours and 17 minutes. Meeting each other for the first time, Costas-Moreira convincingly advanced into the final qualifying competition
at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International-level tournament.
Costas-Moreira stormed into this clay court tournament and wiped out the opening four games in a row before the Slovene could hold on. She then slid her remaining serves with poise and clinched the opener with a 6-2 score line.
Ranked 400th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Klepac on the other side of net re-focused her strategy and claimed the coveted break in the second game to take the scores at 2-0. She lost her edge in the very next game but broke her opponent’s serve
again to leap to a 4-2 lead. Despite squandering her lead and going 4-5 down, the Spaniard stayed focused and pulled out the equaliser with a 7-5 win after bagging the last three games consecutively.
The match could have gone in any direction but the 22-year-old sought her rhythm again and took the early ascendency. She broke her opponent’s serve twice and jumped to a 5-1 lead. Apart from losing her serve in the eighth game, Costas-Moreira cashed in
another break chance and clicked the decider by winning six games to three.
Summing up the Spaniard’s performance in this match, Costas-Moreira brilliantly warded off 10 out of 15 breakpoints she faced and availed eight out of 14 break opportunities to conquer the Slovene. She spilled more double faults and produced a lower first
serve share. However, the Spaniard sealed the deal with 102 points and earned the glory.
Up next for Costas-Moreira is the second seed, Jana Cepelova from Slovakia.
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