Monica Puig made quick work of being the first match to be completed at the Australian Open. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist allowed Patricia Maria Tig just one victory to before capping the straight sets win 6-0, 6-1 on Court 14 on the grounds of Melbourne Park.
This was the first time the two faced one another and for Tig, it was her Australian Open debut trying three times to get into the round of 128. Now that the 22-year-old was in, she drew against the reigning Olympic tennis champion in Puig who has a presence in major tournaments. The Puerto Rican made her fourth appearance hoping to surpass her third-round finish last season. Though she only saw action in the first two tournaments of the season, it was likely that she would be able to handle the Romanian and move quickly onward.
She took a 2-0 lead on Tig holding serve straight up before capturing the first break of their match. She continued on dominating the young Romanian to go on a runaway carrying a four-game winning streak. Tig brought a defensive push in the fifth attempting to break the Puerto Rican on deuce. She was unable to defend on the hard shots of Puig who wasted no time taking the victory. Puig captured the sixth with considerable ease to get up a set on Tig and do it in a span of 24 minutes.
Puig was clearly on the best run of her season to date as she ran up another lead that Tig couldn’t find ways of breaking. Puig opened with a hold followed by a strong break that only lead to another hold. Tig tried bringing a difference to her game but the Puerto Rican smashed the returns fiercely. She took the game going back on serve to dominate in the fifth putting the Romanian on the edge of a massive defeat.
She somehow reached two game points on Puig to win the game and avoided a double bagel in the match. The problem returned once again with the Puerto Rican getting the ball back on serve in the seventh. She continued bringing her best on court while rattling Tig across the net leading to a two-match point opportunity. She nailed down the victory winning 6-1 with a return from Tig going into the net completing a fast match that went 53 minutes.
Puig served slightly less than Tig on the first serve but the difference maker came in terms of the second serve where the Romanian scored on 12 of 23 shots. With that problem, two double faults and facing a very difficult opponent, she saw no chance of pulling any sort of upset. The rookie would find other opportunities to play while the 23-year-old awaits the winner between Mona Barthel and Destanee Aiava in the second round.
No comments:
Post a Comment