Maria Joao Koehler rallies past Marcela Zacarias in the qualifiers – Abierto Mexicano Telcel 2012
Portuguese rising star, Maria Joao Koehler, bounced back from a set down to outclass the local starlet, Marcelo Zacarias, in a three set thriller at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel 2012 on Sunday. She clobbered a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2 score line against the 17-year-old
to advance into the final qualifying round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International level tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico.
Battling each other for the first time, Koehler showed brilliant skills to overpower the local star in two hours and 42-minutes battle. She spilled more errors and produced a lower first serve share of 63 percent as opposed to the Mexican’s 67 percent. However,
the Portuguese impressively marked 47 out of 77 points on it and brushed off eight out of 12 breakpoints she encountered. Highlighting the match further, Koehler sought 16 break chances and converted seven to her advantage to earn the limelight.
With the support from the home crowd, Zacarias stormed into the Fairmount Acapulco Princess and wiped out the opening three games successively, eventually jumping to a 3-0 lead. However, she lost her concentration and after exchanging a break, she gifted
away her serve twice to tie the scores at 5-5. The set went to a tie-breaker and the starlet who dominated was Zacarias.
After the Mexican held her serve in the opening game, Koehler blasted powerful forehands from her box of tricks and went on a three games rampage. In spite of levelling the scores at 3-3, she cashed in another break chance in the follow-up game and held
remaining serves to pull out the equaliser with a 6-4 win.
The 19-year-old carried her rhythm in the final set and got the desiderated break in the opening game to take the initial lead. She held remaining serves and broke the Mexican’s serve again in the fifth game to clinch the decider with a 6-2 score line.
The Portuguese will square off against fifth seeded Sesil Karatantcheva who dominated in the final set tie-breaker to outlast Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens in two hours and 35-minutes duel. The Kazakh lost her serve twice to gift away the equaliser with a 3-6
defeat. However, she exchanged three serve breaks in the final set and enforced a tie-breaker. Karatantcheva dominated in it and subsequently registered a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) score line.
Overall, the world number 130 produced a much better first serve share and broke the Dutch’s serve seven times to secure this spot.
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