Noppawan Lertcheewakarn/Jessica Moore move into the semi-finals at the Malaysian Open
The combination of Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand and Australian Jessica Moore defeated China’s Chang Kai-chen and Urszula Radwanska of Poland in the quarter-finals of the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The winning pair took barely
an hour to conclude their straight sets victory at 6-2, 6-4, stepping into the semi-finals of the event.
Like any other doubles game, the match featured short rallies and
plenty of net volleys. Lertcheewakarn and Moore had brilliant coordination to dominate the contest throughout. Although their serve percentage was lower than their opponents’, the winning pair was very proficient with converting its points. They converted
most of their net points and gave minimum opportunities to their rivals to bounce back in the game.
Lertcheewakarn and Moore won 61 while their competitors took 43 of the total 104 points in the contest. Both of the winners were very agile and had excellent anticipation in the game, as they converted four of the seven break chances, two in each set.
Chang and Radwanska had an impressive first serve percentage of 77, but only bagged 45 per cent points on their serve. This inability wore them out in the game. Chang and Radwanska had a sloppy start, allowing their opponents to gain an early advantage in
the contest.
The Thai-Aussie duo was quick to lead the opener, belting an early serve break. Lertcheewakarn and Moore exploited the cracks between their opponents to perfection, thumping plenty of cross-court winners. They availed most of the net volleys to exert pressure
upon their competitors and stung another break point to take an impassable lead of 5-2 in the first set.
Chang and Radwanska got just one break opportunity which they squandered, as they spilled plenty of unforced errors, including three double-faults, and missed out some simple chances to fall back in the contest. Lack of co-ordination amongst Chang and Radwanska
was clearly observed in the game and their opponents overwhelmed them by capitalising on this weakness. They eventually surrendered the first set 2-6, trailing 0-1 in the contest.
The first serve percentage of Chang and Radwanska dropped to 67 in the following set, but they bagged more serve points than the opening set. They cracked a serve break in the second set, but their opponents replied with two breaks to get hold of the game.
Lertcheewakarn and Moore bagged 33 while their opponents took 24 of the total 57 points in the second set.
The winning pair launched a series of attacking moves, winning a number of points to seal the second set at 6-4 and booking a place in the semi-finals.
Lertcheewakarn and Moore will face the winner of the match between the pair of Alberta Brianti and Zhang Shuai and the Chinese duo of Lu Jingjing and Xu Yifan.
Tags: