Taylor Townsend and Samantha Crawford qualify for the third round – Girls’ Singles US Open 2012
Taylor Townsend rallies past Elise Mertens 7-6(4), 7-5
Top seeded, Taylor Townsend battled past Elise Mertens in the second round of the US Open Championships Girls’ Singles held at the hard courts of the magnificent Flushing Meadows. Townsend summed up her 7-6(4),
7-5 on Thursday morning.
Both players held their initial serves in the opening set and quickly evened out the scores to 1-all. The Belgian contestant broke her opponent’s serve in the third game, marking her lead at 3-1 after a successful
serve hold. However, by the end of the sixth game, the scores equalized to 3-all and the pattern continued, as none of the players allowed each other to dominate and ended up the opener in a tie-break. The 16-year-old local materialized the opportunities to
bag the set number one at 7-6.
The following set proved to be equally challenging as before, levelling the scores three times. The 16-year-old Belgian native busted her rival’s serve in the sixth and 10th game, stamping her lead
in the set by 6-5 and further breaking Mertens’ serve to mark a 7-5 score line.
Both the contenders double faulted five times but Townsend pocketed the win by a higher first serve of 63 percent and clamping six of nine break points. In comparison, the right-hander Belgian capitalized five
of 15 serve breaks.
Samantha Crawford defeats Sachia Vickery 0-6, 6-1, 6-3
Ranked 487th in WTA Premier Rankings, Samantha Crawford gave a shocking upset to Sachia Vickery in the all-American third round clash. Crawford who is the wild card entrant prevailed over
her rival, 0-6, 6-1, 6-3 and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Junior Grand Slam event.
In the opening set, Crawford was unable to hold her serve the entire time. Vickery powerfully stepped onto her home soil and marked her edge from the start. She successfully bagged all the games in a series,
clinching the opener with a 6-0 score.
The game shifted its momentum in the second set, as Crawford broke her rival’s serve to snatch a 2-0 lead. The eighth seed was unable to bounce back after her amazing start in the opener. Despite of Crawford’s
slow beginning, she held her serve throughout the match and cashed all the chances to leap forward, marking her 6-1 lead.
The decider proved to be a tougher challenge as both the players wanted to bag away the victory. The higher ranked Crawford broke her rival’s serve in the fourth and sixth game bringing the score line to 5-1.
Regardless of losing edge, Vickery fought back bringing the scores to 3-5. Ultimately, Crawford nudged forward to close the set with her 6-3 win.
Tags: