Yanina Wickmayer prevails over Christina McHale in the second round – Open GDF Suez 2012
World number 29, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, defeated the American opponent, Christina McHale, in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16 at the Open GDF Suez in Paris, France on Thursday. The Belgian took an hour and 20 minutes
to oust her opponent.
Wickmayer and McHale held their serves in the first three games of the opening set to take the score to 2-1 in favour of the former. The Belgian broke McHale in the fourth game and won her next service game to stretch the lead
to 4-1. Wickmayer broke the American again in the eighth game to win the set 6-2.
The 22-year-old fired a couple of aces and committed a double fault, hitting 68 percent of the first serves in the first set. Wickmayer converted 13 of the 19 first serves and six of the nine second serves into points. In comparison,
McHale lost most of the points on her second serve, winning just two of the six points in the opening set. The American, failed to convert the only break point she received and could not save two of the six break points she faced in the opener.
After losing a one-sided opening set, McHale drew the first blood in the second set. The American broke Wickmayer in the first game to go ahead 1-0. However, she was unable to maintain her lead, as she lost her serve in the very
next game to level the score at 1-1. Wickmayer won two games in a row after that, breaking McHale in the fourth game and taking the score to 3-1. It was McHale’s turn to bounce back; she broke back in the fifth game and held her serve in the sixth game to
square off the score at 3-3. Wickmayer and McHale failed to break each other in the next five games, taking the score to 6-5 in the former’s favour. The American, McHale, could not win even a single point in the 12thgame, dropping the set 5-7.
Wickmayer struggled with her second serve in the next set. The Belgian committed six double faults and won just seven of the 17 points on her second serve. However, the six feet tall compensated that by returning brilliantly and
sealed 11 of the 15 second return points in the second set.
The Monte Carlo resident, Wickmayer, is drawn to play Mona Barthel of Germany in the quarterfinals. Barthel ousted Pauline Parmentier of France in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 in the second round.
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