Sofia Arvidsson ousts Monica Niculescu in the 1st round – Western & Southern Open 2011
27-year-old Sofia Arvidsson defeated 23-year-old Monica Niculescu by bouncing back from a set down to secure a berth in the second round of the Western and Southern Open 2011. The two were not meeting for the first time and were
familiar with each other’s style and performance; meeting for the second time on hard courts of Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason Ohio, Arvidsson won the match with 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 in 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 18 seconds.
Opening the first set was Arvidsson with a foot fault and an ace; however, Niculescu had a geometric precision and struck zero double faults, along with no aces.
Romaine Niculescu had an excellent serve as she was able to win 68% of her total service points, along with, winning and saving a 100% of her break points against her Swedish (Sofia) adversary who was unable to save nor win any
break points.
Niculescu accomplished a grand 80% of her return serve by placing drop shots, which were not easy to return. Hence, Arvidsson was only able to achieve a pitiable 32% of her returns; she had a poorer serve as compared to her return
and bagged a pathetic 20% of her total service points.
The Swede was put to shame when she could only muster 9 out of 34 points when compared to Niculescu who had almost three times the score (74% win in the total set score).
After failing miserably Arvidsson was unable to live with the shame and she had to restore her dignity, while her adversary wanted to bag the second set a serve out the match. During the second set Arvidsson saw a complete reversal
of fate, she revived her fore hand, which enabled her to win 53% of her total service points.
The players had a similar return and an overall score; however, Niculescu forced the set to a tie breaker by smashing ace. During the tie break Arvidsson was a game down but took the lead and served the set at 7-4.
The set saw a comprehensive victory for Arvidsson, however both the players had spilt a set each and embarked on a 30 minute third set. Arvidsson closed out on her Romanian adversary by gaining 12 points more in the total set
points.
The two had perfected their serve and with flawless precision struck zero double faults, however the Romaine served one ace.
Arvidsson was not to give up easily and turned a notch higher in her serve, with a meticulous serve she don’t give a single opportunity to her rival to break her, instead, she broke her opponent once and gained an edge.
The Swede succeeded in attaining a commendable 83% win in total service points against the 23-year-old who only managed a 57%.
The 27-year-old accomplished the set by restricting her opponent to only 3 games and was also able to lead in the head-to-head with 2-0.
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