Polona Hercog ousts local Johanna Larsson to clinch title – Swedish Open 2011
Polona Hercog of Slovenia defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday to win the Collector Swedish Open at Bastad for her first WTA title.
The eighth-seeded Hercog became the first Slovenian player to win the tournament, since Katarina Srebotnik, who withdrew from the singles last year and is now number one in the world Double’s category.
Larsson had Hercog under pressure from the starting of the match with her impressive shot making ability and while the 20-year-old Slovenian was able to defend a break point in the opening game, she double faulted to give Larsson
an early 1-0 break.
The Swede No.1 may have had some incredible shots but she chose the wrong time to try and play them, allowing Hercog to play tricks on her game.
But somehow she managed to break Hercog for a 4-2 lead and then, when serving for the set, committed another series of errors, allowing Hercog to clinch the opener with six games to four.
After winning the opener, the Slovenian woman managed to take charge from the beginning, thanks to an aggressive and tremendously consistent baseline game, while the 22-year-old Larsson struggled to get a touch on the balls that
were buzzing past her at a breathtaking speed. The only indication of trouble came during the second set with Hercog serving at 5-5.
At that moment, the Helsingborg-based player began to hold back and stopped employing the aggressive tactics that had helped her way through the final round of the tournament. The opportunity was enough for the eighth-seeded to
get back into the match, and as soon as she began to employ her attacking game, the 22-year-old Swede was powerless to stop her.
Talking about her opponent, Hercog said: “Johanna was amazing. She was fighting until the last point It was tough with the crowd supporting her so much, but it's normal. I was ready for it. I had a feeling in myself I could win
the tournament. I never spoke about it, but through all my matches this week I thought I was really getting there.
Hercog clinched her maiden title by virtue of 69 percent of points on service, 46 percent of points on return and a total of 85 of 151 points in total.
She now moves on ahead to participate in the next tournament starting on July 11th and run through July 18th here at Palermo, Italy, where she has been installed as the seventh seed.
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