Tamira Paszek, Shuai Peng move into third round – AEGON Classic 2011
World number 80 Tamira Paszek continued her incredible run on the grass courts of Edgbaston Priory Club as she stunned number six seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to advance into the third round of 2011 AEGON Classic
in Birmingham. The Austrian tennis-pro started of brilliantly and although she lost her way during the second, a good solid performance in the finals set ensured her victory in match that lasted for nearly 2 hours.
Ousting Indian Sania Mirza in her previous match at the Women’s Tennis Association tournament, Paszek started the match on a great note. A break of serve early in the first set provided her with the much needed confidence to execute
her game plan against one of the favourites for this tournament. Contrastingly, Makarova was unable to time her shots and committed a large number of unforced errors including a costly double fault. Holding on to her serve games without any trouble what so
ever, Paszek bagged the opener 6-4.
A strong fight back by Makarova was recorded in the second set. Using her powerful and accurate serves to her advantage, the Russian fired serve aces whenever she was in need of a free point. Leading the game score at 4-2, she
received her first serve break chance of the match. Converting the break point successfully, she gained a vital 5-3 lead in the set. Showing no signs of nerves, Makarova clinched her next service game with ease to level the set score 1-1.
Despite getting off the track, Paszek was able to regroup herself in the decider and she displayed some classy tennis to secure a deserving victory. Converting the only break chance that she received in the final set, she set up
a crucial 5-4 lead for herself, serving for the match. Firing a big serve ace, she wrapped up the contest in style.
Number three seed Shuai Peng survived her second round exit scare with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) victory over Britain’s Naomi Broady on Wednesday.
Looking for an easy win, the Chinese tennis star made a solid start to the contest. Breaking the serve twice, she claimed the opening set 6-2.
Looking on course to an easy victory, Peng started the second set on a positive note as well as she raced to 3-1 lead. However Broady, who displayed some high quality tennis in her opening match, turned things around for her with
a break of serve in fifth game of the set. Showing great determination, she managed to even the set score 1-1 after she took the second set in the tie-breaker.
Being the more experienced at the international level, Peng handled the pressure absolutely brilliantly in the final set and managed to avoid a major upset.
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