Reka-Luca Jani defeats Ryoko Fuda; advances into final qualifying round – Gastein Ladies 2011
Number five seed Reka-Luca Janu defeated Japanese tennis-pro Ryoko Fuda in a thrilling three setter 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to on Sunday to book her place in the final round of 2011 Nurnberger Gastein Ladies' qualification tournament in
Bad Gastein, Austria.
Jani made a strong start to the match as she took the opener to establish control over the contest. Fighting back brilliantly, Fuda clinched the second set to force the match into a decider. Showing no signs of nerves, Jani dropped
only a couple of games in the final set to seal an emphatic victory.
Ranked 221st in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Jani looked to be aggressive right from the start of the match. Breaking the serve early, she put her opponent under extreme pressure right from the word go. Playing
the big points really well, she converted a long rally in her favour to take a tricky 6-5 lead, serving for the set. Dashing a wonderful backhand winner down the line, she took the set score lead 1-0.
Fuda raised the level of her game in the following set as she broke the serve twice to race to 5-3 lead. Holding on to her fourth service game with four straight points, she entered back into the match in great style.
Both player exchanged breaks at the start of the final set as the match entered a very gripping phase. Jani regrouped herself and showed remarkable determination to stay in the match. Breaking the challenger at regular intervals,
she established complete control over the contest. Returning a serve ferociously, she made three match points available to her at 5-2 and then converted the first one to seal victory in a match that lasted for more than 2 hours and nine minutes.
Jani was absolutely delighted with her victory. Her first serve conversion was as high as 69 per cent while she claimed 51 per cent of the points on serve return. Converting eight out fifteen break points in the match, she made
the most of available opportunities. Fuda, on the other hand, struggled in that department as she managed to win only six out of thirteen break points. She also had a very weak second serve, which allowed her opponent to take control of the points.
Although Jani has reached the final round of the qualification tournament, it will not be wrong to say that she needs a lot of improvement in her serve to cause any sort of threat to the top seeded players in the main draw. The
Hungarian made seventeen double faults in the match, an area of her game which definitely needs some working.
Tags: