Marie-Eve Pelletier runs over Mashona Washington in the qualifying 2ndround – Mercury Open 2011
Kicking off on the 31st of July 2011 was the qualifying second round of the Mercury Open 2011. Not meeting for the first time the Canadian, Marie-eve Pelletier and the American Mashona Washington battled on the outdoor
hard court at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, California. The 29-year-old (Pelletier) won the match 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
The two have taken to the courts six times out of which Pelletier has won only two matches while, Washington has won four. The last time they met was at the ITF El Paso 2011 event where Pelletier had won the match in straight sets.
This was the 7th time the two were meeting, and the Higher Power had bestowed the Canuck her wish.
In the first set of the match neither of the players smashed an ace and both had struck a double fault each. Serving first Washington had won 67% of her first serve. However, she had a mediocre return serve which enabled her to
hit nearly all her opponent’s shots.
Washington’s defence was strong and she broke her opponent twice on her own serve. Mean while, her opponent was only able to save two out of the four break points and was not able to break her opponent.
Pelletier had a very poor return serve and only attained 9 out of 28 points in her total return points of the set. When all was said and done, Washington was a better player and had won with 8 more points than her opponent’s in
the total set points.
During the second set the crowd expected the 35-year-old (Washington) to attain a flawless victory against her 29-year-old opponent, however, that was a utopian dream!
In a reversal of events Pelletier pulled up her socks and performed better than the first set. Although, both the players had aced three times, the Canuck had struck only 1 line fault, while, Washington needed glasses as she struck
5 double faults hitting the net.
The second set was a cliff-hanger event and both the players had relatively similar points in the set but the only reason why Washington lost was because she was unable to save her break points and was broken thrice by her opponent.
Pelletier won the set with only three extra points than Washington’s.
The third set was to determine the winner of the match, hence both the players should’ve displayed their best performance but to everyone’s disappointment the 35-year-old was tired and out of breath. Washington was only able to
win a single game while Pelletier slipped for a moment and then regaining her control made her opponent run in circles on the court and won with a 6-1 victory.
Both the players had performed to their best of capability however, due to Pelletier’s agility, stamina, defence and technique she won the match from a set down.
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