Lucie Safarova and Iveta Benesova successful in their opening matches at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open
Czech tennis player Lucie Safarova defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain in a thrilling three setter 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) on Monday to advance into the second round of 2011 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain.
Safarova looked a bit out of sorts as the match started. Her on-court movement was slow and she committed a fair number on unforced errors in the opening set. After her serve was broken in fourth game of the set, she trailed the
game score by 3-1. Garrigues took complete advantage of the situation and tried to exert more pressure on her opponent. She successfuly converted her next break chance as well to take an impassable 5-2 lead in the set. On her next serve game the Spaniard claimed
four straight points to take the opener.
In the second set, Safarova looked a lot more settled and executed her game plan better. Her powerful backhand shots created all sorts of problems for her opponent as she broke the serve early in the set to solidify her position
in the contest. The Czech forced the match into the decider after she successfully held on to her serve games.
Safarova continued to play her natural game freely in the final set and created match winning opportunities with her aggressive intent. Garrigues on the other hand put up a brilliant fight and denied Safarova several break chances.
After both players held on to their service game, the set went into the tie-breaker. Safarova showed no signs of nerves as she clinched the tie-breaker with a superb forehand winner down the line.
Safarova’s first serve conversion was a satisfactory 59 per cent while she converted 44 per cent of the points on return. Her strong baseline play made her opponent’s game look ineffective. The 24-year-old broke the serve five
times and required just over 2 hours and 36 minutes to book a place in the third round of the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association tournament. With her win Safarova has also improved her head-to-head record against Garrigues to 2-3.
In another match at the clay court event, Iveta Benesova eased past compatriot Barbora Zahlavova Strycov 6-3, 6-2 to book a second round berth for herself.
Benesova looked to attack right from the start of the match. She broke the serve twice in the opening set to dent her opponent’s confidence levels to great effect. The Czech claimed her service games quite comfortably to pocket
the opener 6-3.
Strycov started the second set on positive note as she broke the serve in the very first game. However, despite trailing the game score by 2-0 in the set, Benesova bounced back to clinch six straight games and wrapped up the match
in less than 1 hour and 15 minutes. Benesova will face Chinese challenger Li Na in her next match-up at the competition.
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