Misaki Doi outguns Michelle Larcher De Brito in the first round battle – Mercury Insurance Open 2012
In the opening round clash of Mercury Insurance Open, the 140th ranked Japanese starlet, Misaki Doi, outperformed the 19-year-old Portuguese qualifier, Michelle Larcher De Brito, on Monday’s eve. The Japanese battled for two hours and 16 minutes before settling the final score line at 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-3, to book a berth in the quarter-final draw of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International Tour event in Carlsbad, California.
It was a hard-fought battle for the 21-year-old Japanese youngster, who had to recover from a one-set deficit to turn the tables on her crafty opponent. She had encountered De Brito once before Monday’s matchup. It was the second round of Roland Garros French Open in 2012 where Doi outsmarted the Portuguese teenager in three set, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, after losing the opener early. She had to replicate the similar sort of performance in Carlsbad this time to fade away the scare of defeat from De Brito and extend her head-to-head by 2-0 against De Brito.
Doi’s victory was hugely assisted by the error-ridden game play of the Portuguese qualifier, who coughed 13 double faults on the most crucial moments of the match to let her opponent take the upper hand. The Japanese also spilled six double faults but her eight aces frittered away that disadvantage. Doi had 17 break opportunities in the contest but she only converted eight of them in reply to her opponent’s four out of nine serve breaks. She got the better of De Brito on her return game, winning 31 out of 75 first return points, and stinging serve breaks on regular occasions to inch closer to victory.
An action-packed opening set was witnessed, with a total of six break points being registered from both ends. A tie-break finally came into play when the scores were dead-locked at 6-6. De Brito crafted a crucial mini-break towards the end and concluded the decider at 7-6(6) to get one up in the match.
The following set was an all-Japanese show, with Doi unleashing a flurry of ground strokes and winners to bag the set with a breadstick. She carried on her winning impetus in the final set of the match and three serve breaks did the trick for her, sealing victory at 6-3 in the end.
Doi will face the winner of the opening round clash between the fifth seed American, Christina McHale, and the unseeded Aussie, Jarmila Gajdosova, in the quarter-final battle of the tournament later this week.
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