Sabine Lisicki set Greta Arn packing in the 1st round – Mercury Open 2011
2nd of August 2011 was the continuation of the first round of the Mercury Open 2011. The German Sabine Lisicki and the Hungarian Greta Arn were meeting for the second time in their professional career at the La Costa
Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, California. The 21-year-old Lisicki defeated her 32-year-old opponent (Arn) in a straight set victory of 6-0, 6-2.
The two had taken up the gauntlet initially on the hard courts of Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2008 at the BNP Paribas Open. The Hungarian had won the match 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 and hence, was leading the head to head score 1-0. It
was time for the German to avenge her loss and Fate had crossed their paths, this time at the Mercury Open 2011.
Lisicki was in her form as she had just recently played with Serena Williams; hence, she opened the set by smashing two aces during the set. However, her accuracy had staggered and she struck 1 line fault. She served with an assertive
style and was able to win 86% of her total service points. Additionally, she was capable of returning her adversary’s shots and bagged an 80% in her second return points.
Mean while, Arn had tried to match her opponent’s serves but was unable to do. Even though she had won 45% of her first serve points, in her second she was only able to get 20% and hence attained a below the par 33% of her total
serve points in the set.
The 21-year-old had a robust defence which did not allow Arn a single break point opportunity instead she broke Arn three times and won the set 6-0
The 32-year-old was no competition for the German and hence serving with nervousness in the second set she struck an ace and a line fault. Her serve had improved by 20% from the first set in her total service points along with
a 15% improvement in the total return points from the previous set.
Whereas, Lisicki had smashed two aces along with two double faults that hit the net. She hit strong forehand strokes and made it difficult for Arn to play her shots. The German had a very strong serve as compared to her opponents
and won a walloping 71% of her total service points. In addition, her first return serve was below the par but was able to re-gain control by the second return serve and grabbed 47% of her total return points.
Arn was unable to save either of the two break points and although she had tried very hard to win the set, she was still far behind in her points as compared to Lisicki’s. While, Lisicki’s defence was resilient and she not only
saved both the break points but also broke her opponent twice.
Overall, the world number 25 not only won both the sets but also avenged her loss and set the head to head score to 1-1.
Sabine Lisicki easily drifted in the second round of the Mercury Open 2011 where she will meet the Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm,
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