Belgian second seed Elise Mertens held her nerve to edge out Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of the Hobart International.
Mertens, who hasn’t won a WTA title since her triumph in the event 12 months ago, won 77% of her first service points and converted four out of her nine break point chances. During the opening set it was a sole break that separated the two players, but the second was more tightly contested. Twice Mertens broke to close in on the win, before Haddad Maia clawed her way back to level. Leading the match at 6-4, 4-4, the Belgian finally secured her breakthrough. A forehand error from the Brazilian player secured another break in Mertens favour and a chance to serve out the match. Which she successfully took advantage of with the help of a love service game.
“She’s a tough player with good strokes, especially on the forehand she likes to dictate, so I tried to play my game and make her make some mistakes,” Mertens told hobartinternational.com.au.
“I’m pretty pleased with my game.”
This week Mertens is bidding to create history at the WTA International event. If she defends her title, the Belgian will become the first player in history to win the Hobart tournament twice.
“Maybe there is some pressure being seeded and defending the title, but for now I’m just feeling free,” she said. “I know can play a good level. I feel confident here.”
Seeds tumble
Mertens is now on course for a potential clash with Monica Niculescu in what would be a repeat of last year’s final. Niculescu, who was playing her first round match on Tuesday, knocked out sixth seed Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-2. The Romanian will next take on Varvara Lepchenko for the chance of a showdown with Mertens.
Alison Riske stunned eighth seed Katerina Siniakova 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, during a two-and-a-half hour battle. The American was trailing 2-4 in the final set, before fighting her way back to defeat the Czech for the first time on her third attempt. During the roller coaster encounter, Riske saved 11 out of the 16 break points she faced and converted six of her own.
“I knew going into it it was going to be a battle. Obviously she had an awesome week last week and she’s an awesome player,” Riske said.
“I fought a lot of nerves and a lot of different things in that match, but I did come out on top so it was definitely a relief.”
Riske will take on Kirsten Flipkens in the second round.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Donna Vekic and Mihaela Buzarnescu secured their places in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Vekic defeated two-time grand slam girls doubles champion Markéta Vondroušová 6-4, 6-4. Meanwhile, Buzarnescu overcame Anna-Lena Friedsam 7-5, 6-4.
Tomorrow’s #HobartTennis order of play:
Fourlis v Watson
Flipkens v Riske
Zhang v Sabalenka
Night session: Niculescu v Lepchenko
Full schedule: https://t.co/6KNoRejnWt— Hobart International (@HobartTennis) 9 January 2018
