Zarina Diyas kept it together in straight sets but not without a huge comeback at the Wimbledon Championships Thursday. The young Kazak came from 1-5 down in the second set to force a tiebreaker against Arina Rodionova to win 6-4, 7-6(4) on Court 14 at the All England Tennis Club.
The two met three times in ITF action this season making it clear of a rivalry between the two players. Diyas has the lead in their series but with Wimbledon being a place for dark horses, she would have a target on her back bigger than ever. While both are ranked close to one another, the object of a third round spot was all that mattered to the two of them. The Kazak had an easy transition in her opening round match winning in straight sets while her second round opponent struggled. It would come down to consistency and heart to determine who would advance to the round of 32.
Rodionova took a strong 2-0 lead as the errors from Diyas came to play on her opening serve. She rallied back with a win in the third to get in against the Australian while it was just the start of the match. She added another to level the playing field with Rodionova and found her niche coming together which handed her the lead change in the fifth.
As the players went forward, the Kazak continued to lead her opponent at 5-4 with the set at hand for her on the break. With trouble answering against the 23 year old, Rodionova struggled on both sides of her offensive hitting and soon found herself falling to Diyas. The Kazak pressed her way to close out the set in the tenth with a solid hold and ended things in 39 minutes.
The second was a different story for the Australian as she had a firm grip over Diyas. After a brief one all tie, Rodionova rallied to win the next three straight helping her gain a chance at showing off her skills. She was allowed to dictate the remainder of the set giving very little to Diyas on either side of the ball which ultimately led to the Aussie having to earn the victory. The seventh game went to deuce where after five breaks, Diyas managed to hang on for the win and stay alive for another game.
Diyas reeled her way to leveling the set at five all with a massive comeback that had Rodionova scratching her head. The Australian had to find a way to recover and did so with a win in the 11th to try and hold a chance to send the match to a third set. Diyas was still on fire overcoming the obstacles put up by Rodionova and standing tall to make the day difficult. They went to a tiebreaker where Diyas still gave the Aussie a headache of pushing her to the brink. She overtook Rodionova on points before a long ball rally ended with a big smash that beat the 27 year old after 1 hour and 49 minutes.
The comeback from Diyas was a feat she won’t soon forget as she had a well-rounded first serve that helped her rally back to victory despite the length of time it took to get there. With another struggle over, the world number 130 would move into the third round facing the winner between Petra Martic and Denisa Allertova on Saturday.
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