Mathilde Johansson slaughters Nadia Lalami to enter round two – Fes WTA 2012
French lucky loser, Mathilde Johansson, devastated the local wild card entrant, Nadia Lalami, with double breadsticks at the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem 2012 on Tuesday. She jolted down a 6-1, 6-1 success against the 21-year-old to book a
place in the second round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) clay court tournament taking place in Morocco.
Johansson, who fell against Arina Rodionova in the final round of the qualifying competition, showed exceptional skills to outsmart the world number 503 in their first encounter. As a result, the French starlet cruised into the round of 16 at this Moroccan’s
clay court event.
The Sweden-born re-structured her strategy before playing her first round match at the Royal Tennis Club de Fes. Her efforts paid off when she pulled out the opener with a breadstick. Johansson stroke out the last five games in a row and was never threatened
with any breakpoint.
Ranked 108th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Johansson kept momentum rushing into the following set. She earned the critical break in the opening game to leap at 2-0. After Lalami held her serve in the third game, the French blasted flat groundstrokes
again to go on a four-game rampage. She cashed in all three break chances and was never challenged with any breakpoint, ultimately registering a superb 6-1 success.
All in all, the 26-year-old clobbered a lower first serve share of 55 per cent as opposed to Lalami’s 61 per cent but spectacularly clicked 17 out of 21 points on it.
Next challenge for the lucky loser is eighth seeded Shahar Peer who bounced over Magdalena Rybarikova to set-up this encounter. The Israeli number one blocked 10 out of 17 breakpoints she faced and capitalised on eight out of 25 break chances to manipulate
a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
The third seed, Petra Cetkovska, also earned the limelight later that day. The Czech availed all three break chances and brushed off all breakpoints she came across, subsequently formulating a 6-4, 6-2 score line against Hungary’s Melinda Czink. She hammered
four aces and brilliantly marked 32 out of 44 points on her first serve share to conquer the match.
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