Samantha Stosur battles past Timea Bacsinszky in round one tie - Fed Cup WG II 2012
World number five, Samantha Stosur, outplayed the Swiss competitor, Timea Bacsinszky, in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 during the opening round of the Federation Cup World Group II tie.
It was the second meeting between the two contestants and surprisingly they played against each other in the Fed Cup third round tie in 2006; results were same as the Aussie tennis ace defeated her opponent in straight sets
in their first encounter as well.
Stosur was under the cosh, receiving mammoth criticism for her dismal performance throughout the new season. She won just one match and lost three matches in succession so it was a must win scenario for the Aussie superstar
in order to regain the respect of her fans and help her country to the second win of the tie. Earlier Stefanie Voegele strained past Jarmila Gajdosova in an epic three-setter contest. Australia leads the tie by 2-0 entering into the second day of the contest.
A reasonable start to the first serve game for the Aussie helped her gain some momentum. She broke her opponent’s serve in the second game and consolidated her position in the match with a 2-0. The Swiss couldn’t wield any
pressure on her opponent in the next serve game and Stosur breezed past her with a lead of 3-0 in the first set.
Finally, the Swiss competitor held her serve but she was running out of games and needed to break serve in order to level the scores. Stosur didn’t allow her any opportunity to make an impact and ease the nerves; scores were
pushed to 5-1 in favour of the superior ranked Aussie.
Suddenly, the Swiss contestant changed her game style and started played more rallies at net and successfully shook her opponent; she broke Stosur’s serve that progressed the scores to 5-2. Unfortunately for her, she slipped
miserably while running back for a return short and lost a vital point on her serve that gave Stosur an opportunity to win the match point.
The Aussie contestant made no mistake in gobbling up that crucial point. Bacsinszky was disappointed at her performance; failing to make a mark, she gathered herself up and returned to the courts with utmost confidence to
fight back and possibly extend the match into the third set.
Second set was a topsy turvy with both players trading breaks now and then. Five breakthroughs were shared with a ratio of 3:2 in favour of Stosur and she strained past her opponent successfully to register her second win
of the season.
Tags: