Polona Hercog bounces back to defeat Chanelle Scheepers at the Grand Prix De SAR
Slovenian tennis-pro Polona Hercog earned a hard fought 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory against Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa on Wednesday to book a second round berth at the 2011 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in
Morocco.
Scheepers made a very positive start to the match as she broke the serve in the opening game of the first set. Hercog put up a brilliant fight and managed to take the set into a tie-breaker. Both players displayed high quality
tennis in the tie-breaker however Scheepers held her nerves to take the opener 7-6 (6).
The second set also followed a similar pattern. The two contestants traded serve breaks and again forced the set into a tie-breaker. Hercog showed great mental strength and determination in the tie-breaker as she held on to her
service points and then converted the very first set point to shift balance of the match.
A loss of concentration resulted in a disaster for the South African tennis-pro as she clinched only a couple of games in the decider. Hercog, who looked down and out after the first set, raised the level of her game in the final
set and executed her backhand and forehand shots with confidence. The Slovenian claimed 23 out of 30 points in the set to clinch a tight win in a match that lasted for 2 hours and 55 minutes.
Hercog achieved an impressive 66 per cent first serve conversion with accurate and on target serving. She also secured 48 per cent of the points on return which played a vital role in deciding the outcome of the contest. Scheepers
on the other hand failed to take advantage of her strong position in the match and committed a fair number of unforced errors. Her weak second serve gave the challenger enough opportunities to score points at crucial situations.
Ranked 68 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Hercog has struggled to find her form since the start of this season. She started the year with a first round failure at Brisbane. At the 2011 Australian Open she was defeated
by Anastasija Sevastova in the first round play. Although Hercog put up a good show at Monterrey Open to reach the semifinals, her poor run on the WTA tour continued as she failed to go past the first round of next three WTA tournaments she participated in.
However, here at the red clay courts in Fes she restored some of the lost pride by coming back from a set deficit to reach the second round at the WTA tournament. Hercog will face Melanie Oudin of United States in her next match
up at the tournament.
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