Nuria Llagostera Vives out past Olga Savchuk in the final qualifiers of the BNP Paribas Open
30-year-old Spanish, Nuria Llagostera Vives beat unseeded Ukrainian Olga Savchuk in the final round qualifiers of the BNP Paribas Open at Indiana Wells on Tuesday night. Vives outplayed her opponent by 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, taking one hour and forty two minutes.
Vives carried on her good form in the qualifying rounds to recover after dropping a set in the match. She eased past the opener but had to surrender the following set to Savchuk. The Spanish veteran made a strong comeback in the final set of the contest to book a berth in the main draws.
The contest proved to be a back-and-forth affair and it was difficult to forecast the winner during the match. Vives reflected a higher level of confidence in her game, gained from her emphatic first round victory against the eighteenth seeded Sandra Zahlavova. Although her game lacked something to be desired, her overall performance in the contest was quite satisfying.
The Spanish proved to be less accurate with her serve, delivering merely 59 per cent on target and committing seven double faults. Although Savchuk served with 71 per cent accuracy, the Ukrainian failed to clinch points on regularity. She showed sheer class in the second set of the match but couldn’t carry the momentum till the end.
Savchuk virtually had no chance to survive through the error-ridden opening set. Plenty of her strokes ended long and wide, gifting effortless points to her rival. She spilled out four double faults as well and failed to defend the break points she faced.
Vives was quick to start the contest and bagged three straight games to lead 3-0 in the first set. The Spaniard bagged 16 out of 20 first serve points and extended her lead to 4-1. Savchuk managed a break point to reduce the deficit but Vives broke her in the very next game to bag the opener at 6-2.
The Ukrainian took the Spanish by surprise in the second set and stung a serve break at the start. Vives retaliated with the same in the next game but her poor serve led her down in the set. Savchuk served with an impressive 81 per cent accuracy and crafted five break opportunities. She availed three of them to race past her opponent to 6-2, levelling the contest at 1-1.
The competition had another momentum swing in the decisive third set when Vives won 30 out of 51 total points. Her opponent broke her serve twice but the Spanish replied with four assertive serve breaks to overwhelm Savchuk. Vives concluded the match at 6-3, ensuring a pass to the main draws.
Vives will meet the world number 64 Simona Halep in her first round of the main draws of the Paribas Open.
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