Shuai Zhang passes by Olga Govortsova into the main draw – Cincinnati Open 2011
Making her way to the main draw of the Cincinnati Open 2011, Shuai Zhang, Chinese world No.99, outgunned the Bulgarian World No.105, Olga Govortsova at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre, Ohio hard court. Categorized as the Premier
5 event, the Cincinnati Open final qualifier lasted for 150 minutes before the Chinese took over her challenger winning 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-4.
Dropping down from world No.73 to world No.99, Zhang is on her way pulling herself up once again in the ranking. The 22-year-old clashed with her co-aged Bulgarian, seemingly an easy challenger, ended her giving her goose bumps.
However, the Chinese star used her stamina and pace to pull off the decider set on time.
Losing to the Chinese for the second time in a row, Govortsova tried her luck once again, however, could not snatch it off. Although her performance was much appreciated, she still had to run back empty handed. The 22-year-old
had a good knock in the second set and managed to scare the Chinese for once. However, that was it for the Bulgarian world No.105 and went on losing against Zhang for the second time.
Starting of the first set, Zhang served first and rolled the scorecard 1-0. Following her rival, Govortsova returned a win levelling the scores to 1-1. The Bulgarian broke the Chinese for the first time in game 3 and then again
in game 5 leading a comfortable 4-1 in the first set.
However, the Chinese pulled back breaking the Bulgarian thrice in the following games. Scores changed from Chinese lagging 2-4 to levelling at 4-4 and out of the blue taking away the set with a final breaking point in game 10 winning
6-4.
Govortsova had a shocker underestimating the Chinese in the first set. Nonetheless, the Bulgarian fired up the second set breaking the Chinese once and taking the set into a tiebreaker. Although Zhang had a greater percentage of
service and return points, the lower ranked Bulgarian squeaked a cheeky win winning the tiebreak 7-6(2) and levelling the match scores to 1-1.
Playing for the decider set, the two 22-year-olds replied each other with perfected play and accurate shots. The two went on winning back-to-back games on their respective serves levelling the scores at 2-2, 3-3, and then on 4-4.
The Chinese finally got away with a breakpoint in game 9 and led on finishing the set 6-4 in game 10 and the match 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-4.
The two hours and thirty minutes ended with Zhang making it to the main draws of the Cincinnati Open 2011.
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