Samantha Stosur defeats Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in 1st round – HP Japan Open 2011
Top seed Samantha Stosur dismantled Thai qualifier Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in the opening round of the HP Japan Open 2011. The two duelled on the outdoor hard courts of the Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka, Japan and after a lengthy two hours and thirteen minutes the number one seed conquered Thai Lertcheewakarn by surviving a mid match fall of 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 on Tuesday the 11th of October 2011.
Commencing the first round of the match was Australian Stosur, who had just bagged her first US Open title. Both the players matched each other’s mettle and won on alternate service games to tie the score at 2-2 by the end of the fourth game. In the fifth game Stosur edged past her challenger with a hold of serve and then by capitalizing on a breakpoint.
However in the following two games the players broke each other one after the other and the scoreboard had shifted to 5-3. As Stosur held serve in the last game, she bagged the opening set and was now one up in the match.
After taking a thrashing, initiating the second round was Lertcheewakarn, who was a junior champion at Wimbledon in 2009. Again the players matched a blow for a blow and equalized the score at 2-2 by the end of the fourth game. In the following two games Lertcheewakarn shifted into top gear and utilized the serve-break-serve technique to reel off straight three games against the Grand Slam champion.
Lertcheewakarn was leading the game with a break and game at 5-2 by the end of the seventh game. She was now only a game away and as the two again won on alternate games, the young Thai qualifier also bagged a set.
By the end of the first two sets both the players had bagged a set each and opening for the third round was the Aussie. This time Stosur got off to a great start as she not only held her serve but also capitalized on an early break in the second game to lead the scoreboard with a 2-0 score. The top seeded Aussie repeated the feat and further increased the lead to 4-0 by the end of the fourth game.
It was in the fifth game that Lertcheewakarn made a return by breaking her adversary and then holding serve to reduce the deficit to 2-4. The players then held serve for the following two games and the scoreboard rotated to 3-5. Lertcheewakarn then utilized a breakpoint and as she held serve in the tenth game, she tied the score at 5-5.
At such a crucial stage in the game Stosur held serve and as the Thai double faulted on her second serve, she endorsed the match point to her adversary, who bagged the match and reserved a place in the second round of the HP Japan Open 2011.
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