Tamira Paszek wears down Melanie Oudin to enter the second round – Citi Open 2011
Third-seeded Tamira Paszek of Austria beat world No. 100 Melanie Oudin 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2 in the first round of Citi Open to reach the second round here on Tuesday.
Paszek needed just over two hours and twenty six minutes to beat the American, who appeared to be tired from the very beginning and never looked likely to stop Paszek's progress to the second round of Citi Open.
The only concern for Paszek was a second-set loss, however, she did not lose concentration and working on her movements, she served well for most of the match.
Despite being on the back foot during the middle frame of the match, Paszek performed admirably in the face of some brutal tennis from her 19-year-old opponent and will look to maintain the momentum when she goes up against Madison
Brengle of America in the second round.
Oudin did move gracefully round the court, and her business-like forehand won her a couple of break points in the match, but Paszek promptly produced lots of booming first serves. And that, apparently, remained the difference between
the two of them as Oudin did not have the same head for heights.
During a first set in which Oudin struggled to adjust to the warm conditions and of course to the tie-breaker itself, Paszek always looked in command of her destiny. About the only thing she got wrong all day was failing to clinch
the second set, before hitting the third and winning the match in a three-set marathon.
Paszek, the Austrian No.1 finished off the match by scoring three aces while committing eleven double-faults. Although she made a lot of mistakes in the match, she still remained on top of her 19-year-old opponent, winning 61 percent
on service, 46 percent on return and a total of 102 of 190 during the match which lasted for about two hours and twenty six minutes.
The world No 42 played very well, striking her ground strokes with conviction and finding the perfect balance between defence and attack. Above all, she played with the assurance and self-belief that took her to the second round
of the tournament where she will meet Madison Brengle of America.
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