Olga Govortsova stuns Czech Eva Birnerova
in 2nd qualifying round – Kremlin Cup 2011
Belarusian Olga Govortsova stunned fifth seeded Czech Eva Birnerova by bouncing back from a set down in the second qualifying round of the Kremlin Cup 2011. The two rivals battled racquets on indoor hard courts of the Olympic Stadium,
Moscow. After one hour and fifty seven minutes the unseeded Belarusian Govortsova bagged a score of 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday the 16th of October.
Govortsova decided to open the serve after she had won the service toss and she was unable to hold on to her first game. On the other hand, Birnerova too was unable to hold her serve and the scoreboard had tied at 1-1 by the end
of the first two games. However, Govortsova again double faulted and endorsed a breakpoint to Birnerova, who held her serve in the fourth game and took a mini lead of 3-1 on the scoreboard.
During the following two games the players had bagged a game each on their respective serves to rotate the scoreboard to 4-2 with Birnerova leading in the set. The fifth seeded Czech once more capitalized on a lucky break and as
she smashed a backhand winner, she triumphed with a 6-2 in the opening set.
Commencing the second set was also Govortsova and this time both the players bagged a game each on respective serves. However, in the following two games they broke each other back-to-back to tie the score at 2-2. The two adversaries
matched a blow for a blow and the scored levelled at 3-3 and then 4-4 as they held serves in the following four games.
However, in the ninth game Govortsova skilfully held her service game and was now only a game away from bagging the set. As Birnerova double faulted on her second serve, Govortsova capitalized from a lucky break and clogged the
set with a 6-4 victory.
At the end of the first two sets, each player had bagged a set and opening the determining set was Govortsova and she was extremely lucky as she not only held her serve but also capitalized on a breakpoint to reel off straight
two games. However in the following four games the players broke each other one after the other and by the end of the sixth game the scoreboard had progressed to 4-2 score with Govortsova leading.
In the seventh and the eighth game the players won on their respective games to spin the scoreboard to a 5-3 score. At this stage in the match, Govortsova was not only leading but was a game away from triumph and as she held serve
in the last game, she put the fifth seeded Birnerova to shame by sealing her victory of the third set.
Up next for the unseeded Belarusian is the top seed Kazakh, Galina Voskoboeva in the final qualies of the event.
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