Naomi Broady, Conny Perrin upset seeds in the final qualifying round – AEGON Classic 2011
Ranked 231st in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Naomi Broady recorded a major upset in the final round of 2011 AEGON Classic qualification tournament with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over second qualifying seed American
Sloane Stephens on Sunday. The Brit looked in great form as she required only fifty eight minutes dispatching her opponent. With her win, Broady also booked her place in the main draw of 250 series WTA tournament.
Starting the match on a very positive note, Broady broke her opponent’s serve in the very first game. With her admirable grass court skills and strong temperament, she made her opponent’s game plan look completely ineffective.
Stephens struggled with her first serve conversion and let the Brit take control of rallies. Converting most of the chances, Broady raced to a 5-1 lead in the set. She reached a couple of set points when Stephens missed an easy forehand winner down the line.
Converting the first one with a blistering serve ace, she led the set score 1-0.
Continuing to play in the same fashion, Broady started the second set on a positive note as well. She executed her game plan to perfection and managed to win her service games quite easily. The American put up a good fight but
the 21-year-old Broady concentrated on her own game play and made the crucial serve break in eighth game to take a 5-3 lead in the set, serving for the match. Clinching four straight points on her serve, she ended the match in great style.
Having a decent season on the WTA tour, Stephens was hoping for better results here at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham. In her opening two matches at the qualification tournament, she looked in great touch and secured comfortable
victories. However, she committed a large number of unforced errors against Broady and eventually wore out.
In another match, Swiss tennis player Conny Perrin ousted fourth qualifying seed Sesil Karatantcheva 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-3 to book her place in the main draw of WTA tournament.
Conny adopted an aggressive approach and created all sort of problems for her opponent in the opening set. Break of serves at regular intervals provided her with the momentum she was looking for. Karatantcheva made a strong come
back to take the second set in the tie-breaker but she lost her way in the final set again.
With her well directed serves, the Swiss managed to take control of the points whenever she was in trouble. The Kazak struggled in the serve return department as she managed to win only 28 percent of the points on her opponent’s
first serve.
Tags: