Shuai Zhang wins tough battle against Ayumi Morita in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open
Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang won her opening round match against Japans’ Ayumi Morita at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California on Thursday night. Zhang won the three-set contest 6-2, 2-6 and 7-6(4), taking two hours and forty nine minutes.
It proved to be an enthralling contest, stuffed with high quality tennis action and plenty of winners. The two competitors were phenomenal with their serve accuracy, delivering over 85 per cent throughout the match. Morita spilled out some costly unforced errors, including four double faults which eventually wore her out.
A total of 214 points were played in the contest, with Morita winning 108 and Zhang following her with 106. The serve points winning figure was identical for both the players and so was the return-point ratio. The critical difference was seen in the third set tie-breaker when Morita crumbled under match pressure to lose the match.
Zhang was off to a flyer in the opener and broke her opponent in the very first serve game. Although she won 45 per cent of serve points in the first set, she was still better than her opponent, who merely collected 29 per cent points. The two contestants were very proficient on converting their opportunities and availed 100 per cent of their break chances. The Japanese broke twice in the set but her rival replied with four serve breaks to seal the first set 6-2.
The tide turned in the second set as Morita made a strong come back with an outstanding serve percentage of 94. Her Chinese opponent followed her with 87 per cent but lacked to craft break chances in the set this time. Zhang lost her steam after she broke at 2-3 and the Japanese got hold of the game to take a commanding lead of 5-2. Morita was awarded nine break opportunities and she converted three of them, which proved sufficient to bag the set 6-2.
After winning one set a piece, the decider was sure to be a thriller and it was. The two contestants exchanged a number of quality winners, earning plenty of break opportunities but converted just one each. A total of 105 points were played in the third set and Zhang won 54 of them to get the edge over her opponent.
A routine game took the third set into the tie breaker at 6-6, bringing more excitement to the contest. The decider was also a close one, with both players playing some aggressive strokes and cross-court winners. Morita seemed to be caught under pressure when her opponent cracked a mini-break at 5-4 and the Japanese crumbled to lose further two points, ending her voyage at 7-6(4).
Zhang will face 20th seed Aravane Rezai of France in the next round of the BNP Paribas Open. Rezai came to the second round of the tournament through a bye.
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