Mattek-Sands/Mirza fall out in the first round clash– Mercury Insurance Open 2012
Unseeded American-Indian tandem of Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza didn’t last even the opening round of the Mercury Insurance Open and bowed out to the Taiwanese tandem of Hao-ching Chan and Yung-jan Chan on Monday’s eve. They battled for one hour and 56 minutes of intense game play before succumbing in the third set, 7-5, 4-6, 5-10, to fall out of the competition earlier than expected.
Mattek-Sands and Mirza had a below par first serve precision of 51 per cent in the matchup and could claim 25 out of 38 points on it. They frittered away four break opportunities and converted just five chances, whilst their opponents also registered five serve breaks en route to victory. The American-Indian duo had the upper hand initially in the match by winning the opening set but tended to lose steam in the later parts of the contest to let their unseeded opponents take the better of them.
Hao-ching and Yung-jan played cautious tennis throughout the match, avoiding risky shot play and bagging crucial points all the way to victory. They were on the back foot after losing the opener but a sudden momentum swing in the second set brought them right on top of the rivals. The Taiwanese contenders sustained their winning impetus in the decisive third of the match and won the super tie-break to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament in a convincing manner.
Action started right from the very first game of the match, with the Taiwanese contestants delivering the first blow. Five successive break points from both sides dragged the scores to 4-2 in favour of Taiwanese pair but Mattek-Sands and Mirza broke again in the 10th game to bring them back at 5-5. An all-important break point conversion in the 12th game from the American-Indian tandem sealed the set number one for them at 7-5.
The following set witnessed an early trade of break points and a couple of serve hold from both ends settled the scores at 4-4. The Taiwanese tandem delivered another crucial blow to break into a 5-4 lead and then served out of the set comprehensively.
It all came down to the super tie-breaker round, with the contest evenly poised at 1-1. Hao-ching and Yung-jan broke into lead early with a couple of mini-breaks and kept pressing their opponents throughout the decider. Mattek-Sands and Mirza failed to recover from the points’ deficit and eventually succumbed to their opponents at 5-10 to finish their voyage at Carlsbad.
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