Women Tennis: British young guns shine bright on Day 3 – London Olympics
Heather Watson dispatches Silvia Soler-Espinosa
World number 69, Heather Watson, rock bottomed the 63rd ranked Spanish professional, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. The 20-year-old booming Briton starlet had full support of her home crowd at the
All England Lawn Tennis Club on the eve of Monday.
Espinosa was put under pressure right from the start with her opponent winning the first breakthrough in the second game of the match. Moreover, Watson just lost two points on her three serve games including two crushing serve
holds to love. She was dominating the show right from the start and the crowd loved it.
In the final game of the opening set, the 24-year-old Spaniard managed to save three breakpoints but failed to hold her rival on the fourth occurrence.
Watson won the first breakthrough of the second set in the fourth game and piled up a lead of 4-1 with a thumping serve hold. Nothing was going right for the Spanish professional who lost another breakpoint in the eighth game of
the second set that proved to be the final action from the match.
The Briton smashed seven aces compared to just one of her opponent. She committed 11 unforced errors but her opponent was even sloppier; embracing 20 of them.
Espinosa just managed to strike 12 winners that were 15 short of the total tally of her rival. Watson converted four of the allotted 11 breakpoints and allowed none to her rival.
It was purely a one sided encounter that was dominated entirely by the 20-year-old Briton. She will lock horns with 14th seed Russian, Maria Kirilenko, in round two.
Laura Robson ousts Lucie Safarova
World number 98, Laura Robson, smashed 24 winners to begin her Olympics campaign; dispatching the 22nd ranked Czech, Lucie Safarova, in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-4.
Robson broke serve in the second game of the match but couldn’t hold her nerves and gifted the lead back at the stage when she was serving for the set. A tie-breaker round was enforced and the left-handed 18-year-old Briton won
a late mini-break to lead the set scores one nil.
The second set witnessed a tight battle for the first eight games but the critical breakthrough in the following game went in favour of the Briton who saved a breakpoint in the 10th game to hold serve and win the encounter.
Robson will create a threat for the third seed Maria Sharapova in round two.
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