Mandy Minella overcomes Tina Schiechtl in qualifiers – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
Qualifying third seed, Mandy Minella, outlast the Austrian challenger, Tina Schiechtl, in a three set thriller at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Sunday. She joggled up a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory against the veteran to progress into the final round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event taking place in France.
The Luxembourgian star needed two hours and 23 minutes to overpower Schiechtl in their first meeting. The challengers last battled each other at the Campobasso WTA event and after earning this victory, Minella maintained her winning record against the world number 326 and advanced into the final qualifying round.
Minella made quick in-roads at this red clay court event and after breaking the Austrian’s serve twice, she leaped to a 4-1 lead. Despite losing her edge in the very next game, she capitalised on another break chance and eventually served out the opener with a 6-2 success.
The Austrian re-focused in the second set and earned the coveted break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. She then exchanged two serves breaks before pulling out the equaliser by winning six games to four. Schiechtl amazingly blocked five out of seven breakpoints she faced and cashed in half of the six break opportunities to get back in game.
The final set saw several serves breaks but the Luxembourgian was the one who re-gained her strength and edged past her opponent. After Minella was broken in the sixth game, she removed her flaws and wiped out the last three games successively, eventually clinching the decider with a 6-3 score line.
Overall, Minella dusted away five out of 12 breakpoints she faced but availed 10 out of 18 break chances. She jolted down a slightly lower first serve share of 62 per cent as compared to her opponent’s 63 per cent but amazingly clicked 31 out of 55 points on it.
Minella will next face the American contender, Lauren Davis, who crushed the local starlet, Caroline Garcia, with a breadstick to set-up this match.
The sixth seed qualifier, Stephanie Dubois, also conquered her opponent, Marina Shamayko, in straight sets to progress at this event.
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