Timea Babos battles past Naomi Broady in 2nd round – Slovak Open 2011
Third seeded Hungarian Timea Babos saw a bit of difficulty in ousting unseeded British Naomi Broady in the second round of the Slovak Open 2011.
Thursday the 17th of November 2011, in Bratislava, Slovakia on indoor hard courts of the Národné Tenisové Centrum, the two dulled against each other and after two hours and twenty six minutes, the third seeded Hungarian
thrashed the unseeded Briton by bouncing back from a set down to secure a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-6(7).
Serving first was Broady after she had won the service toss and she managed to squander two successive games by capitalizing on a breakpoint in the second game to place herself on the scoreboard with a mini lead of 2-0. However,
in the following two games, Babos made a comeback by breaking back and then holding her service game to equalize the score at two games each by the end of the fourth game.
From there onwards, the players matched a blow for a blow and the score kept tied with a hold of serves in the sixth game at three games each. Subsequently, in the next two games the players traded in breaks and the score levelled
at four games each by the end of the eighth game.
Although the match could’ve tilted either way at the end of the tenth game as each player had held their respective serve to tie the score at five games each, it was a lucky break that Broady capitalized on to clog the opening
game with a 7-5 victory.
Amidst the second set, the head-to-head run progressed well into set and the players held their respective serves to bag two games each by the end of the fourth game. It was in the fifth game that Broady had double faulted and
allowed her opponent to reel two games and take a mini lead. However, the Briton made a comeback with a hold of serve and by breaking back in the eighth game and the score had tied at four games each.
The players once more were neck-on-neck into each other and neither player wanted the other take the lead. As they once more kept bagging their respective serves, the set was pushed into a tiebreaker. Amidst the tiebreaker, the
zeal and zest slowly evaporated and the last time the score tied was at four points each. Babos took a notch higher and rushed past her adversary to clinch the tiebreaker at 7-4.
At the end of the first two sets both the players had bagged a set a piece and third set was commenced by Babos. As neither player was ready to throw in the towel, the goose chase progressed well into the decisive round. Each player
matched an eye for an eye and the score kept tied for all the twelve games and ultimately the set was pushed into another tiebreaker.
Amidst the tiebreaker, the cat and mouse chase continued till the first seven points. However, Babos took on her A-game and utilized a breakpoint to square two consecutive points and clogged the tiebreaker at 9-7.
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