Bethanie Mattek-Sands came through well in her match at the Credit One Bank Invitational Wednesday afternoon. The captain of Team Peace gave it her best against Monica Puig of Team Kindness to win 6-1, 6-3 on center court at the Family Circle Tennis Center.
The two haven’t played since last year, and with the pause to the sport, both veterans were excited to get on any kind of court. The Puerto Rican had a lot of recovery since her elbow surgery. Getting any kind of win for Puig would help her fight back to action, especially since last playing in October in Luxembourg. The American got back into singles action last season playing nine matches. With her entry back into the exhibition, she would give the reigning Olympic champion a fight on the green clay.
It certainly went that way in the opening game as Puig challenged the serve of Mattek-Sands
forcing deuce. After six breaks and aces helping the American, she managed to hold serve to gain a break on the 26-year-old. Puig earned the break back in the third but couldn’t hold serve in her for the second time in the opening set. Mattek-Sands was on a roll with her fourth game win looking to close out the first on serve. With three set points, the 35-year-old put it away with a great forehand while moving into the net, making it hard for Puig to answer.
As the second began, Puig got on the board with a battle with Mattek-Sands getting into another deuce draw, avoiding a lengthy one achieving the first break. Despite her efforts, the American got back to business, taking the next three straight before Puig found a way to get back on track. She leveled the score at three-all earning her second break of Mattek-Sands, but allowed the American to regain the lead in the seventh.
A great service game in the eight put Mattek-Sands closer to a strong win in Charleston getting lucky with a point that saw her low behind the baseline. The 35-year-old finished off the match blanking Puig on serve in the ninth for three match points, giving the victory for Team Peace in 1 hour, and 28 minutes, just before the rain began to fall on the court.
No comments:
Post a Comment