Su-Wei Hsieh denies Eleni Daniilidou of the spot in the title match – Malaysian Open 2012
World number 81, Eleni Daniilidou, was the victim of the upset registered on Saturday by the Taiwanese tennis professional, Su-Wei Hsieh. It was a semi-final of the BMW Malaysian Open when the 123rd ranked Taiwanese
dumped the Grecian in three sets 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.
The Grecian had won the only previous encounter contested between these players. It was almost six years ago during the round of 32 match in Bangkok. At that time Daniilidou won the three-setter 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 but she wasn’t able
to survive a battle of an hour and 45 minutes on Saturday.
It was a bagel to start the match for the Taiwanese who had been in sublime touch in the recent past. She won three successive breakthroughs in the opening set and wasn’t troubled at on her serve; gobbled up the set in quick succession
and the crowd expected an early return to their homes but 29-years-old Grecian revitalized her game plan and stood up in the second set.
The Grecian started off with a breakthrough and doubled the lead with another breakpoint in the third game. It was such a dramatic start to the set that brought the crowd to life. No one was expecting such a turnaround in the proceedings.
Although, Hsieh diminished the trail to one break but couldn’t explore an opportunity to level the scores.
Daniilidou grabbed the second set triumph and enforced the third set. She was playing extremely well but tiring at the same time; probably the aging factor crept in play. A breakthrough for the Taiwanese in the fourth game of the
final set gave her the lead that proved to be the pivotal factor.
The Grecian did save a couple of breakpoints but that wasn’t enough to stop her opponent from boiling up the lead to four games with another breakthrough under her belt. It was getting pretty ominous for the Grecian who had fought
extremely well throughout the second set to brighten her chances of qualifying for the final.
Scores were probably harsh on the superior ranked player who was better in the third set than what is suggested by the score board. She wasn’t lucky enough to stay in the contest. However, nothing should be taken away from the
Taiwanese who played extremely well throughout the match and deserved to win after such an emphatic start.
She steams into the title match and plays Petra Martic of Croatia who outfoxed the former world number one, Jelena Jankovic, on Sunday.
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