Polona Hercog defeats Mirjana Lucic in the second round of the 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open
More confident than ever, Polona Hercog booked her place in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Barcelona Ladies Open after defeating Mirjana Lucic of Croatia in straights sets at the second round of the tournament. The Slovenian pro
didn’t take more than 55 minutes to register her victory with a 6-1, 6-2 score line. The Slovenian pro kicked off the tournament in the best way she could. She defeated Jamie Hampton of America with a 6-4, 7-5 score and has yet to drop a set this week.
The Slovenian pro started off very well and had no problems to hold her serve at the beginning of the first set. Hercog completely dominated the first set and didn’t allow her Croatian opponent to get the better of her. It was
very tough for Lucic to take the first set as she had to struggle a lot due to Hercog’s great movements. She won a meager conversion rate of 44 percent on her service game as compared to Hercog’s whopping 73 percent and lost the first set with a breadstick.
The second set happened to be more intense as Lucic was playing better this time with the help of her great serve and powerful ground strokes. She fired in two aces, 48 percent of her first serves and won 67 percent of points on
them. Whereas her opponent was still better at conversion, winning 80 percent of points behind her 77 percent first serves. Unfortunately for the Croat, she hit way too many double faults in the match which resulted in a 1-6, 2-6 loss. However, the score line
doesn’t tell the actual story of this match as it was a way more competitive and a closely played contest with both players putting in their best.
The Slovenian pro will meet Laura Pous-Tio of Spain in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Pous-Tio battled past America’s Jill Craybas and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of Czech Republic in the first two rounds to reach the last
eight.
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