Zarina Diyas defeats Karen Barbat in qualifying 1st round – WANLIMA Women’s Open 2011
Kazakh tennis pro Zarina Diyas made a sensational come back o overcome Karen Barbat of Denmark 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Sunday to book her place in the second round of the qualifying draw 2011 WANLIMA Guangzhou International Women’s Open
here in Guangzhou, China.
Seeded second at the Women’s Tennis Association tournament, Gojnea has been decent form over the last few weeks. She has improved her WTA ranking significantly and is now eyeing her first title win of the year 2011.
The 17-year-old had a shaky start to the match as she committed a large number of unforced errors early on. Losing the opening set with in first 40 minutes of the match, she looked completely down and out. However, with her strong
character, she turned things around for herself. Ranked 171st in the world, Diyas made a sensational comeback to seal an memorable victory in a match that lasted for 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Barbat had her chances but she could not handle the heat out there. Despite being 1-0 in the set score, she was unable to keep the momentum on her side. Making costly double faults at crucial stages of the match, she really did
not help herself. She will be hoping to learn from her mistakes and come back stronger on her next WTA appearance.
The Dane made a strong start to the match. With some accurate and on-target serving, she had no problems holding on to her service games in the opening set. She then received her first break chance in seventh game of the set, which
she converted with a lovely passing shot to take 4-1 lead in the game score. Dashing a gorgeous backhand winner down the line, she set up a set point for himself and then converted it easily to take 1-0 set score lead.
Diyas bounced back brilliantly in the following set. Raising the level of her game play, she served with more focus and she held on to her serve games with ease. Breaking her rival twice in the set, she raced to an impassable 5-2
lead, serving for the set. Making it all look very simple, she bagged the opening set to shift the balance of the match.
The Kazakh continued to display some high quality tennis in the third and final set as well. With regular break of serves, she put herself in the driving set. Not allowing her opponent an entry back into the contest, she served
out the set with only one game lost. Diyas will be looking to maintain her good form in the upcoming matches at the tournament as well.
Tags: