Monica Puig blew five match points before locking down the win at the Mexican Open Wednesday. The fourth seed came out victorious against a tough Daniela Hantuchova before winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on Cancha Central at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess Hotel.
The two have met twice and the first since 2015 when Hantuchova took the win at Monterrey in a three set fight. Both meetings have gone three sets with each holding a win on the other. The former world number eight has been doing everything possible to get back into contention but has a long road ahead of her sitting as the 244th. The Slovakian hasn’t done well so far this season but hopes that taking on the Puerto Rican can produce a stunning result. The Olympic gold medalist took care of Francesca Schiavone in her first round match. Despite it having difficult moments, the 23 year old has a lot of confidence and good feeling to take care of business.
Something was not right for Puig before the match could even be started. A pain in her left arm during warmups made the request for a trainer necessary. A medical timeout was granted to Puig to determine whether she could actually begin. Play began with Hantuchova serving first showing that her skills could take on the hard returns of the Puerto Rican. Things remained on serve as both had the best of one another going deeper into the set. They remained on serve through six games until Puig made a push to change the tide. Gaining two breaks on Hantuchova, the 23 year old won on a shot landing wide of the line.
It didn’t get any better for her as Puig began her jump to the front never looking back in the eighth that she took swiftly. She went for the set in the ninth but Hantuchova saved things on serve to force deuce where she managed to gain an advantage after three breaks to stay in it. She had to face Puig on serve for the set and took a chat with her coach to figure out ways to push closer to leveling the set even at five.
She put the threat into action answering well on the returns that gave her a lead in the game. Puig somehow saved things with a net front presence that forced deuce. A simple ending came in favor of the fourth seed as she won the tenth with a final unforced error from the Slovakian ending 45 minutes of play. Hantuchova had 11 unforced errors and three double faults during the set that were just enough to give Puig the victory. More had to be done from the fourth seed if she wanted to succeed and minimize the length of time she wanted to be going against the Slovakian.
She got the lead right off the bat with Hantuchova committing another double fault that she made up for in the second. The 33 year old made up for her mistakes and struck for the breaks to continue in the set. Puig took a 2-1 lead before holding serve in the fourth widening the gap. Puig continued to drive away at Hantuchova dictating forward to a point where she had everything in her game running well. After taking a 4-1 hold, the 23 year old had captured 75 percent of points in the set giving the indication of a game changer occurring.
An important break arrived for Hantuchova who gained leverage on the returns before notching a second win. The fight was still tough going on as she found herself in a deuce draw in the seventh winning on the break after a long ball from Puig made it 4-3 on the scoreboard. A meeting with her coach became critical to calm down the Puerto Rican and keep her as the dictator in the set to avoid history from repeating itself.
She stayed out front on serve and aside from a call that Hantuchova thought should have been replayed, the game slipped out of her hands. She served in what could have been her last chance to stay alive with the fourth seed going for the match. An unforced error got Puig on the board before she ended a 14 shot rally with a line drive down the side end of the court. In response, the Slovakian got creative on the next rally going for a drop shot that Puig never got to. It was what she looked for to change the game as the unforced errors that blew two match points for Puig.
In desperation to end things she faced adversity right from the start. The fourth seed got very lucky on a rally that started to work against her. Hantuchova killed her chance to win the first point smashing the ball into the net. Another error on the forehand followed by another gave Puig three match points that she knew she couldn’t afford to lose. She lost the first on a winning return followed by a shot that made it impossible for Puig to answer on.
Hantuchova pulled off the comeback saving three match points in a row before an unforced error gave the Puerto Rican leverage. The next rally was held by the Slovakian who killed off another point from Puig. The breaks turned into a tug of war that spanned three breaks and six match points attempts before Puig could secure the victory after 1 hour and 39 minutes.
The fight from her opponent clearly showed the threat of both players going into a third consecutive three setter but control came to the 23 year old to get out of a jam and move back to the quarterfinals of the tournament. She would meet against American Christina McHale on Thursday in a battle that would surely rival her second round.
No comments:
Post a Comment