Nuria Llagostera Vives beats Alize Lim; enters the second round – Collector Swedish Open 2011
Alize Lim of France has made Nuria Llagostera Vives earn her spot in the second round of Collector Swedish Open 2011, eventually finding a way to beat the talented Frenchwoman 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Once the 20-year-old Lim settled into the match she courageously pushed the world number 88 and frustrated her with her incredible game.
It was a shaky start from the Spaniard, who after a bit of a struggle with her opening games fell behind 2-0. The brilliant foot work of Vives was lacking which crippled her ability to anticipate Lim’s play in her first meeting
with the Frenchwoman.
After converting four break points in the opener, Lim managed to serve for the set to love as Vives continued to lack the movement and shot-making skills that had amazed her fans reaching the third round of 2011 French Open, before
losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Intelligent play from Lim showed up the inferior court agility of Vives as she made her run from side to side neutralising the Spaniard’s shot making ability. Some tight serves from Lim saw her handing over a service break gently
with a double-fault giving Vives a 3-1 lead.
However, that break was the inspiration Vives needed to settle into her game rather than going one up in the lead before losing the opener with four games to six.
With the silver of hope, Vives managed to hold serve, almost going ahead as Lim’s game started to unravel. At 5-2, Vives served to level the match at one set apiece.
As Vives started to impose her game, Lim appeared to struggle with the lack of rhythm and was again broken in the opening games of the decider. The more Vives sunk her teeth into the match the more her anticipation and footwork
improved as Lim remained unable to find her lost rhythm.
Lim tried at times to force things happen prematurely but finally she worked towards some break points in the fourth game of the second set before losing it .The strong first serve and great shot-making ability of Vives saved her
maintaining her lead 2-1.
Lifting in intensity, Vives broke and served for a 4-2 lead as the unforced errors from the Frenchwoman rose. Lim seemed to lose her concentration and started to play passively, allowing Vives to serve for the match.
Taking two hours and eleven minutes of play, Vives managed to beat her French Opponent in a three-set marathon and going one up in their head-to-head series to 1-0.
Up next for the Vives is compatriot Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who beat sixth-seeded Iveta Benesova to set up a clash with Vives.
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