Petra Rohanova downs Francesca Stephenson in Girls’ Singles 2nd round – Wimbledon Championships 2011
Petra Rohanova of Czech Republic delivered an absolute master class to pave her way into the third round of Wimbledon, after beating Francesca Stephenson in straight sets. A strong mentality, clutch shot making and a thundering
first serve featured prominently in a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
It was Stephenson who was looking more frightening and likely to break in the early stages of the match. However, the Czech player staved off three break points, and after a few tense moments, blew her opponent away 6-2 in the
opening set.
Rohanova was perhaps fortunate to get to three consecutive break points, but there can be no doubts that she up heaved the level of her game when it mattered most.
The Czech suffered a lapse in concentration at the start of the second set, going down 0-2, but she rejuvenated splendidly though, showing determination and composure that was considerably lacking in Stephenson’s game.
Rohanova patiently waited for her chances, and snagged the break at 4-3, and consequently, served out with relevant ease.
After disregarding a couple of break point opportunities, Stephenson looked out of steam and out of ideas as how to stop Rohanova’s energetic charge towards the finishing line.
Possessing the second set lead at 5-4, Stephenson started to loosen up, and the exhibition tennis flowed. There were no flashy shots like the ones her fans had seen against Makoto Ninomiya but ordinary approach shots from Stephenson,
which were highly punished by the Czech with a lot of authority.
Rohanova was untiring, clouting forehands on the run for winners and killing passing shots past the increasingly disconsolate Brit. Stephenson was actually not playing badly by any means but she could not match the intensity or
shot making of the Czech, losing the second set with five games to seven.
The Czech drew her second round match to a close, by scoring seven winners while committing six unforced errors and to boot, she won 57 percent on her first serve, 55 percent on her second serve and a total of 40 of 70 points on
return.
A spot in the fourth round will be on line at the All England Tennis club when Rohanova and sixth-seeded Paraguayan Montserrat Gonzalez collide on Wednesday. The winner is set to go up against either Anett Kontaveit or second-seeded
Caroline Garcia of France.
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