Mathilde Johansson shocks Shahar Peer to enter quarter-finals – Fes WTA 2012
French lucky loser, Mathilde Johansson, surprised everyone after jolting down the eighth seed, Shahar Peer, in a three-set thriller at the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem 2012 on Wednesday. She hit back to outrun the
Israeli star with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory at this clay court event taking place in Fes, Morocco.
Johansson displayed top notch tennis to upset the Israeli number one in their second encounter at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event. After earning the fame in this two hours and 26-minute battle, the underdog
not only avenged her loss at the Australian Open last circuit but also levelled the head-to-head series by 1-1 against Peer.
"The match went great. It was tough, and she made it difficult in the first set but then I began to fight back," the blossoming French commented in a courtside interview after the match. "My serve was working well and I was hitting
my forehand much better than in my other matches here so I hope I can continue this for the rest of the week."
The world number 54, Peer, made a strong start at the Royal Tennis Club de Fes and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the early lead. Despite losing her serve in the very next game, she cashed in another break chance
in the third game and leaped to a 3-1 lead. The Israeli exchanged a serve break towards the end before serving out the opener with a 6-4 score line.
Johansson re-structured in the proceeding set and exchanged three serve breaks early on to level the scores at 3-3. She got the breakthrough in the eighth game and eventually sealed the equaliser by winning six games to three.
Ranked 108th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Johansson kept her spark lit in the final set and earned the critical break in the third game to jump to a 3-1 lead. After Peer slid her second serve in the fifth game, the French
bagged the last three games in a row and clinched the decider with a 6-3 score line.
Next challenge for Johansson is the third seed, Petra Cetkovska, who tumbled over the Swiss, Timea Bacsinszky, in straight sets to set-up this meeting.
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