Mladenovic/ Piter defeat Moore/ Xu Yifan in the semi-finals – e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open 2011
Kristina Mladenovic and Katarzyna Piter advanced to the Doubles final of the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday, June 10th after defeating the Australian-Chinese duo of Jessica Moore and Xu Yifan in semi-finals of the tournament. The French-Polish pair of Mladenovic and Piter battled past their opponents with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-5, taking not more than one hour and twenty five minutes.
The French-Polish duo looked in complete control of the contest as the match started. They played some cracking shots in the opener and made their opponents think hard about finding a way past them. They both held on to their first ser game very easily and broke the serve early in the first set to dent their opponent’s confidence level.
Looking in hurry to warp the first set, the winning pair presented some high quality tennis and broke the serve at regular intervals. They pocketed the first set with magnificent shots that totally confused their challengers. The winning pair dominated the first set and dropped only four games to nab the early advantage.
Although Mladenovic and Piter’s first serve conversion was only 67 percent in the first set, they were able to take the control of the rallies with their fiery forehands. Playing energetically, Mladenovic and Piter had no troubles returning the serve as they claimed 59 percent of points while on the receiving end.
Enjoying a dominating position in the contest, the French-Polish duo was expecting to take the second set comfortably but Moore and Yifan showed amazing fighting ability as they broke back to tie the score on even terms 5-5. However, the Australian-Chinese duo was unable to control their nerves there and gave away two more game points to let them conclude their straight sets win.
Mladenovic and Piter wrapped up their clean effort with a single ace and four double-faults. Furthermore, they won 57 percent of points on their service, 54 percent of points on return and a total of 71 of 129 in the contest to race away to the finals. In contrast, Moore and Yifan managed to get on the scoreboard with a meager 46 percent on service, a poor 43 percent on return and a total of 58 of 129 in the contest.
Up next for Mladenovic and Piter is the second-seeded pair of Sweden’s Johanna Larsson and Germany’s Jasmin Woehr in the final round of the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open. Larsson and Woehr ended the inspiring run of America’s Alexa Glatch and Ahsha Rolle to secure a spot in the final.
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