Nicole Rottmann battles past Marta Domanchowska; enter final qualifier round – Gastein Ladies 2011
Austrian tennis-pro Nicole Rottmann battled past Marta Domanchowska of Poland to make it through to the final round of 2011 Nurnberger Gastein Ladies qualification round in Bad Gastein, Austria. Supported heavily by the crowd,
Rottmann made a very competitive start to the match as she took the opening set in the tie-breaker. However in the second set, she looked in much more control as she completed her straight sets victory quite comfortably.
Un-seeded at the Women’s Tennis Association tournament, Rottmann start off a bit slowly as she struggled to time the ball to her liking, giving a large number of cheap points to her opponent. Domanchowska grabbed opportunities
with both hands as she broke her opponent twice to race to 5-1 lead in the set.
Fighting back in an astonishing fashion, the 22-year-old Rottmann made a double serve break to force the set into a tie-breaker. The contestants put up a brilliant display of tennis in the tie-breaker as the match entered a very
gripping phase. Showing some great defensive skills, the Austrian clinched a crucial point on her opponent’s serve to set up her first set point and then fired a blistering serve ace to take the set score lead 1-0.
Rottmann raised the level of her game in the final set as she raced away with the game. Breaking the serve at regular intervals, she put herself in driving position in the match. Playing her natural game with freedom, she smashed
her incredible forehand and backhand winners all over the court. Serving for the match at 5-3, she placed a backhand slice right on the baseline to set up two match points for her and then converted the first one to seal an emphatic victory in a contest that
lasted for more than 1 hour and 37 minutes.
It will not be wrong to say that, Rottmann played the big points really well. Whenever she was in trouble, she was able to hit her way of out of it. With seven double faults in the match, she certainly had problems with her serves
at times. However she covered that up with a strong performance in other departments of the game. Converting five out of seven break points, she made sure every chance is counted.
Domanchowska, who started well, lost the track completely in the second set. She failed to handle the pressure every time the screws were tightened on her. A large number of unforced errors combined with her ineffective ground
strokes made it too difficult for the Polish to bounce back. Rottmann was delighted with her effort. Her opponent in the semi-final will be Sofia Shapatava, who eased past Slovakian Zuzana Luknarova 6-0, 6-2.
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