Polona Hercog upsets Mathilde Johansson in the first qualifier – China Open 2012
World number 90, Polona Hercog, dismantled the 86th ranked Frenchwoman, Mathilde Johansson, in the opening qualifier round of the China Open at Beijing. She bamboozled her in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 taking just a fraction
under an hour and a half.
Both these players were witnessed at the final of the Sony Ericsson Swedish Open at Basted earlier this season and the 21-year-old Slovenian star squeezed a triumph after facing the first set bagel. So, she has shown a lot of class
this season having risen to the 35th rank in January. However niggling injuries have been troubling her for quite some time and that has forced her to lose several spots in the rankings.
Johansson started the encounter with a serve hold and so did her foe. Both players capitalized on their serves to make it 2-2 in the opening set. However, the big breakthrough came in during the fifth game of the set that helped
Hercog to take a lead. She failed to serve successfully for the set and gifted the breakthrough back to her rival. Both players broke each other’s serve to end the set in an emphatic fashion.
The Slovenian star started the second set in a cracking manner; won the opening game and broke her opponent’ serve to make it 2-0. Johansson kept her cool and bounced back into the encounter with a breakthrough and a serve hold;
equalized the scores at 2-2.
Both players traded breakpoints to keep the scores together until the end of the eighth game. It looked like the tie-breaker round would be required to separate the winner from the loser. The 27-year-old Frenchwoman couldn’t hold
serve in the 10th game of the set and gifted the triumph to her rival that rounded off the match proceedings as well.
Greta Arn is the next opponent Hercog will be facing for a place in the main round of the tournament. The Hungarian defeated the seeded teenager, Timea Babos, in the opening qualifier to book a date with another upset queen from
Slovenia. So, it will be a battle between the underdogs, however, the talent of Hercog is way beyond the likes of Arn.
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