Sybille Bammer hits back to win against Simona Halep; advances to 2nd round – Gastein Ladies 2011
Local star, Sybille Bammer made an epic comeback by saving a match point to win in a mouth watering 4-6, 5-7, 7-6(6) victory over the sixth seeded Romanian Simona Halep at NURNBERGER Gastein Ladies 2011, a WTA Premier event held
in Bad Gastein, Austria. After earning this surprise three setter victory, the Austrian secured a second round spot on Wednesday.
Ranked 148th in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier rankings, Bammer was trailing 4-6, 4-2 when she re-viewed her strategy to bounce back at the seeded Romanian, ranked eighty-nine places above her, in a three set nail biter
match on their first meeting. After earning this clay court success, the Austrian not only secured a second round spot but also put hope for the locals to see their star earn the glory.
19-year-old Halep confidently entered the court and held her serve in the first game through quick forehands from her arsenal of skills. Later, she lost her serve in the third game but quickly counter attacked by snatching the
break back in the very next game. The teenager then kept on plucking the games until the Romanian broke back at 4-5. Halep however broke the Austrian’s serve in the tenth game again to clinch the opener with a 6-4 score line.
31-year-old Bammer fought back hard in the second set. She lost an early serve in the sixth game but quickly snatched the break back in the following game. The Austrian then exchanged break in the ninth and tenth game and converted
another breakpoint opportunity in the eleventh game to take the lead. She held on to her serve in the last game to seal the equaliser by winning seven games to five.
Both stars raised the level of their game in the final set as they played their best tennis. Bammer took the first blood in the third game but lost the lead in the eighth game after losing her serve with double breakpoints. The
set went to a tough tie-breaker where the Austrian prevailed in end to bag the decider with a 7-6(6) win.
"Because I thought I was going to stop after Wimbledon, I was playing here to have fun, and I was just playing point by point," the beaming Bammer said. "In the second set I started making less mistakes and it got closer and closer.
I kept fighting for every point. At the end I was nervous because I was 5-2 up in the tie-break and wasn't expecting to win today, but I think I got a little bit lucky."
Up next for the Austrian veteran is her wild card compatriot, Yvonne Meusburger who trashed Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko in straight sets to reach this spot.
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