Yi Fan Xu, Jessica Moore move into the second round of 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg
Chinese tennis player Yi Fan Xu earned a well deserved victory against French Elixane Lechemia 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the second round of 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg qualification round in France.
The 22-year-old Fu was having a horrendous time on the Women’s Tennis Association tour since the start of this season. She was extremely delighted at clinching her first victory of 2011. Her previous matches of the season resulted
in a disaster for her as she failed to win any of them. Strasbourg clay court tournament provides her an excellent opportunity to prove her mettle at the international level. However, she will have to up her game play considerably to overcome the top seeded
players competing at the event.
Xu looked to take the attack to her opponent as the match started. Her aggressive approach coupled with her formidable defence allowed her to execute shots with confidence. In the opening set she broke serve twice to take vital
5-2 lead. However, the Frenchwomen showed astonishing fighting spirit as she broke back twice to force the set into a tie-breaker. Xu showed no signs of nerves as she clinched four straight points to wrap up the opener 7-6 (4).
The second set proved to be a completely one sided one as Xu smashed her blistering forehand and backhand winners all over the court. Her on-court movement was excellent as she created match winning opportunities. The Chinese broke
the serve three times in the set to ensure her straight set victory. Lechemia played with positive intent in the opening set however she lost her concentration in the following set and committed a fair number of unforced errors. She expressed disappointment
at her ordinary performance in a post match interview.
In her next match-up at the WTA tournament Xu will take on German Anna-Lena Groenefeld. The number nine seed made quick work of compatriot Karolina Nowak 6-1, 6-0 to advance in to the second round. Xu will be eyeing another strong
performance to make it to the final round at Strasbourg.
Australian Jessica Moore also secured a thumping 6-0, 6-1 victory over Austrian Melanie Klaffner to sail into the next round.
Moore broke the serve six times in the match and required only 1 hour and 12 minutes dispatching her opponent. Her superior serve proved to be the real difference between the two players as she achieved an impressive 70 per cent
first serve conversion. Her next round opponent will be Croat Mirjana Lucic who defeated Swiss Conny Perrin 6-3, 7-6 (3) in a competitive encounter.
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