Stephanie Gacon outshines Evgeniya Rodina in final qualifying round – Generali Ladies Linz 2011
French tennis pro Stephanie Foretz Gacon crushed Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 6-1, 7-5 on Monday to book her place in the main draw of 2011 Generali Ladies Linz here in Austria. Gacon looked in stunning form in the final round match
of qualification tournament as she thrashed out the inform Rodina in straight sets to move ahead.
Gacon will be very pleased with the way she responded to difficult situations during the contest. Although she bagged the opening set in a blink of an eye, she had to fight hard for each point in second set to ensure her victory
in straight sets.
Ranked 97th in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Gacon is a very talented young player. With forty eight wins in 72 matches, the running season has proved to be quite a decent one for the Frenchwoman.
She will be looking to continue her impressive run into the main tournament as well to clinch her first ever title at the WTA level. Gacon possesses a very powerful forehand shot and she will be using that frequently in her upcoming
matches. However, to achieve consistency in results, she will have to improve her serving considerably.
Foretz made a whopping six double faults in the match, which of course provided Rodina with openings she was looking for. Hitting only 56 per cent first serves; she will have to get more of those first serves in to achieve similar
results against other quality players in the main draw.
Gacon had a great start to the math as she broke the serve in the very first game of the opening set to take 3-1 lead. Holding onto her service game, she dented her opponent’s confidence levels. Leading 5-1, she broke serve for
the second time to take 1-0 set score lead.
Breaking the serve at regular intervals in second set as well, Gacon put herself in the driving seat. Rodina fought bravely but she could not stop her opponent from earning a well deserved victory in a match that lasted for only
1 hour and 8 minutes.
Rodina will be disappointed with her very mediocre effort as she wasted a large number of opportunities during the contest. Hitting only 50 per cent of her first serves, she allowed her rival to take control of rallies. Converting
only 45 per cent of her second serve points, she paid the ultimate price for her weak serves. Rodina is a very fierce competitor and she is expected to regroup herself to come back strongly on her next WTA appearance.
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