Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Lara Arrubarrena-Vecino successful in the first round of 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience
Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain defeated German Angelique Kerber 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in three tight sets in her opening match at the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience. With her win the Spaniard has also claimed a place in the second round of the US$ 220,000 Women’s Tennis Association tournament.
The match was played on an extremely competitive note as both players got involved in several long rallies. Lino made the first serve break in the match with a powerful serve ace to dent her opponent’s confidence level. She then held on to her serve games with some crafty tennis. The 30-year-old also played in the chip shots every now and then to surprise her opponent. She clinched four straight points to take the opening set 6-4.
Kerber fought back brilliantly in the following set. The 23-year-old registered her first serve break of the match in the third game and then had another break chance to lead the set score 5-2, serving for the set. She then converted one of the set points with a strong backhand winner to force the match into a decider.
Lino had a stumble early in the final set as she suffered a serve break making two successive double faults. However, the Spanish tennis-pro broke back immediately to nullify her opponent’s advantage at 2-2. Lino then regrouped her strengths and came up with brilliant strategy to lead the score 5-3 serving for the match. She finally closed out at 6-3 with a breath taking backhand winner.
Ranked 46th in the WTA rankings, Lino has been a part of WTA arena for some time now. The 23-year-old won her maiden WTA title at 2010 Bogota and now seeks her second career triumph. She looked to be in commanding form at the clay-court event and showed great determination to overcome her opponent in a match that lasted for nearly 2 hours. Lino will take on Klara Zakopalova in her second round match-up. Sixth seed Zakopalova secured a thumping victory over Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus.
Meanwhile another Spaniard Lara Arrubarrena-Vecino earned a comfortable7-5, 6-4 victory against Romanian Monica Niculescu at the WTA tournament in Marbella.
The 19-year-old Vecino is still new to the WTA arena. She gave some stunning performances in the qualifying round of the tournament and now looks in great shape for her coming matches. A win over a much higher ranked player will certainly give her confidence in her abilities and skills.
The Spaniard broke her opponent’s serve seven times during the match. She faced very uncertain situations early on when she was trailing by 2-4 in the first set but bounced back brilliantly by winning four straight games. She then continued her supreme form in the second set as well to complete her win in straight sets.
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