Sania Mirza ousted, qualifier Naomi Broady advances – AEGON Classic 2011
Tamira Paszek ousted Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Tuesday to book her place in the second round of 2011 AEGON Classic.
Mirza was having a decent season on the Women’s Tennis Association tour, reaching the women’s doubles final at 2011 Roland Garros just over a week ago. She was hoping for similar results at the Edgbaston Priory Club but the Austrian
tennis-pro Tamira Paszek had other ideas.
Making an emphatic start to the contest, Paszek broke the serve in the very first game of the opening set. Mirza struggled to get any timing on her shots and soon found her trailing the game score by 4-1. Playing admirable tennis,
Paszek pocketed her next two service games comfortably to take the set score lead 1-0.
Looking to find entry back into the match, the Indian started the second set on a positive note. Dashing her ferocious forehand and backhand winners all over the green court, Mirza raced to 4-2 lead in the set. Paszek used all
of her weapons but was unable to find the answers. The 58th ranked Indian bagged her next service games without any trouble to even the set score and shift the balance of the match.
The final set promised to be an exciting one as both players started confidently. Having gained the psychological advantage over her opponent, Mirza was looking to seal the battle in great style. However contrastingly, she committed
a large number of unforced errors in the set and let Paszek take charge of the battle. Playing in a lovely drop shot, world number 80 Paszek set up three match points available to her and then converted the first one to ensure her place in the next round of
US$ 220,000 grass-court tournament.
In her next match-up, Paszek will take on sixth seed Russian Ekaterina Makarova who received a bye in the first round. To yield similar results, she must improve on her serve as she managed only a mere 47 percent first serve against
Mirza.
In another match Brit qualifier Naomi Broady earned a hard fought victory against Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 to move ahead here in Birmingham.
Braody has surprised many analysts by reaching that far at the WTA tournament. Entering the competition as a qualifier, the 21-year-old secured incredible wins in her two matches at the qualifying round earlier. If Broady can maintain
her good form, she can certainly pose threats to the top seeded players.
Ranked 150th in the world, Garcia made a good fight back in the second set to force the match into the decider. However Broady seemed unaffected by her tie-breaker loss and continued to pressurise her opponent. Converting
the second match point with a blistering serve ace, she ended the match in style.
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