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by Prip Tina continued to have a good tournament, but the final hurdle for her to get to the main draw would prove to be the highest. Maria Alejandra Vento is a player who has been there and done that, twice ranked as high as # 31 in the world. Now relegated to qualifying for most tournaments, she's kept to a modest number of events and has chalked up some quality results in the last year. Tina had been psyching herself up while waiting for this match, and came out blasting. Maria had hardly any time to realize where she was before finding herself losing the first six games in a row. The Venezuelan cut down on the number of unforced errors and adjusted to the variety of shots being thrown at her from the Slovenian. Tina herself had a lapse in concentration, and found herself running around the court in defense. Maria got the break in the second, and went up 5-2 before serving out the set. Finding herself back in square one, Tina heard the wake-up call, and picked up on her service. She started to really crack the serves in, and put the pressure on Maria to come up with a good return. She held serve easily, and played very smart tennis in the next game, pushing Maria farther and farther back before unleashing beautiful dropshots from the baseline. She got the break of serve, but the Venezuelan got the break back by playing aggressively and constantly moving forwards. Tina wasn't discouraged that easily, though, and played almost the exact same game as Maria's previous service game, pressuring a double-fault out of the Venezuelan to get the break again. This time, the Slovenian managed to keep hold of the lead, and held serve despite Maria playing an increasingly aggressive game. Tina's top-spin forehand became a huge liability, though, as the balls kept landing short, even inside the service line a number of times, giving Maria all the opportunity in the world. In a most frustrating series of points, Maria kept getting short balls which should have meant the end of the point, but Tina kept scrambling to make her opponent play one more shot, getting the ball back any way she could, which actually worked and gave her a 4-1 lead. Tina's backhand was more effective, though, with the slice laying low and penetrating deep, pinning Maria behind the baseline. Many times, the Venezuelan would take the initiative to move forward, only to find the sliced backhand moving her backwards again. The pressure soon got to Maria, and 2 double-faults gave Tina the second break and a 5-1 lead. The Slovenian never looked back, and finished off the set 6-1. With a jump and a pump of the fist, she looked up at her coach in delight, starting the year off much better than the way she ended the previous one. With a bit of luck, the Slovenian may get a good spot in the main draw and advance further in the tournament. |