Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears steal the limelight in Tokyo – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
American junction, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears, stunned the fourth seeds, Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Czech Republic's Kveta Peschke, with a breadstick at the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012 on Saturday. They jolted down a 6-1, 6-4 victory against
their rivals to capture their third year-to-date title at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event held in Tokyo, Japan.
The American junction entered this outdoor hard court event after conquering Carlsbad few months ago and the KDB Korea Open last week. They maintained their intensity in this tournament and cruised to the final showdown without losing a set. Kops-Jones and
Spears leaped to a 6-1, 4-2 lead before levelling the scores in the eighth game of the second set. However, they remained focused and carved out the victory in one hour and 14 minutes.
Kops-Jones commented in an on-court interview after conquering the event:
"We were trying to contain ourselves after we won - we kind of wanted to dance. It's not a Grand Slam, but for us it's pretty close. We put in a lot of work this year and it's our biggest win ever."
"It's even better to share these moments with your friend," Spears reflected.
Kops-Jones stated further:
"Throughout last week in Seoul and this week in Tokyo, we've shown we can stay focused for a longer period of time during our matches. Sometimes you have errors - but our focus has been really strong on the court lately."
The high flying Americans thundered into the Ariake Coliseum. They lost their serve once but broke entire serves of the seeded tandem, eventually pulling out the opener with a breadstick.
Kops-Jones and Spears kept momentum sailing in the following set. They got the crucial break in the third game and leaped to a 3-1 lead. Apart from levelling the scores at 4-4, the Americans got the breakthrough in the ninth game and eventually sealed the
set with a 6-4 win.
Summing up the unseeded team’s performance, Kops-Jones and Spears capitalised on seven double faults their opponents’ spilled. They clobbered a poor first serve share of 47 per cent as compared to the seeds’ 64 per cent but impressively marked 17 out of
24 points on it. They also smashed three aces and ended the deal with 60 points.
On the whole, this was Kops-Jones and Spears fifth career title. The duo triumphed in Estoril in 2009 and in Quebec City in 2011.
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