Mirjana Lucic triumphs over Myrtille Georges in qualifier – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
Eighth seeded qualifier, Mirjana Lucic, overpowered the local wildcard entrant, Myrtille Georges, in a mouth-watering three setter at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Sunday. She juggled up a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 success against the world number 366 to
advance into the final round of the qualifying competition at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International tournament taking place from 19th to 26th March in France.
The Croatian veteran lost her track in the second set but stayed focused to pocket the match in almost two hours. Encountering each other for the first time, Lucic assertively secured a place in the final round of the qualifying competition.
Lucic made a drastic entry at this clay court tournament and gifted away her serve in the third game to fall at 1-3. After trailing at 2-4, the Croat bounced back and wiped out the last four games in a row, eventually sealing the opener by winning six games
to four.
With the help from the home crowd, the French unleashed her true form in the follow-up set and went on a five-game rampage to go 5-0 up. Despite squandering her chance of serving out the set with a bagel, Georges slid her serve once again and clicked the
equaliser with a 6-2 win.
Ranked 119th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Lucic suffered the first blow in the final set and went 0-1 down. However, she quickly counterattacked and recovered in the very next game. The Croat then swiped in remaining serves with self-assurance
and got the breakthrough in the eighth game, consequently bagging the set with a 6-3 success.
Overall, Lucic took full advantage of the 13 double faults the local contestant spilled and hammered four aces to prevail. The Croat registered a lower first serve share of 46 per cent as compared to her opponent’s 53 per cent but tremendously availed 31
out of 41 points on it.
Next challenge for the Croat is the top seed, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez who trounced Venezuela’s Andrea Gamiz in straight sets to set-up this meeting. The Spaniard lost her serve once but capitalised on four out of 11 break chances to formulate a 6-3,
6-3 victory.
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