Stephanie Foretz Gacon ousts Baltacha in round one of Internationaux de Strasbourg: Tennis Special
Local veteran, Stephanie Foretz Gacon, devastated the British star, Elena Baltacha, with a bagel at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Monday. She penned down a 6-4, 6-0 victory against the 28-year-old to secure a place in the round of 16 at this WTA
(Women’s Tennis Association) clay court event held in Strasbourg, France.
Foretz Gacon stayed solid throughout the match to slide her entire serves and capitalised on four out of 13 break opportunities to pocket the match in their fourth meeting. After earning the limelight in one hour and 12 minutes, the French not only improved
to a 4-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series against the Brit but also progressed into the second round.
The French veteran brought her experience into handy and kept her opening serve to tie the scores at 1-1. She then continued hitting powerful groundstrokes and swiped in her remaining serves after brushing off all four breakpoints she faced. Foretz Gacon
got the breakthrough in the seventh game and clinched the opener with a 6-4 score line. She converted one out of seven break opportunities to her advantage, eventually inching closer towards the spotlight.
Ranked 86th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Foretz Gacon went out of control in the following set. She blasted flat groundstrokes from her box of tricks to go on a six-game rampage. The French was never threatened with any barrier in it and cashed
in half of the six break chances to bake the set with a bagel.
Overall, the 31-year-old produced a lower first serve share of 54 per cent in contrast with Baltacha’s 60 per cent but exceptionally marked 24 out of 30 points on it. She also fired three aces and ended the match with 67 points.
The French contender is bidding for her maiden WTA career title here. She hasn’t had much progress at the WTA circuit except for securing a final eight spot at the Memphis WTA International event (lost to Vera Dushevina). Foretz Gacon’s last displayed her
skills at the Estoril Open in April where she was ousted in the qualifying competition.
Next challenge for Foretz Gacon is her fellow citizen, Pauline Parmentier, who stunned the top seeded wildcard entrant, Sabine Lisicki, in straight sets to set-up this duel. Parmentier outshined the seeded German with a single break of serve in the opening
game of each set.
With the help from her home support, she can re-gain her momentum and reach far at this event.
The Taiwanese challenger, Su-Wei Hsieh, will accompany Foretz Gacon in the second round. She rallied past Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in a three-set thriller in two hours and 12 minutes to power into the follow-up round. Hsieh amazingly defended eight out
of 12 breakpoints she faced and capitalised on eight out of 16 break chances to formulate a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1 success in their first encounter.
She will next face the winner of the match between Anabel Medina Garrigues and Anna Tatishvili.
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