Julia Goerges sent packing from Dallas

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Julia Goerges sent packing from Dallas

Third seed Julia Goerges has been eliminated from the Texas Tennis event earlier than expected after the German was defeated by Elena Baltacha 2-6, 7-5, 7-6. Shahar Peer has also packed form the American event after being stunned in straight sets by Johanna Larsson.

Goerges had a remarkable momentum in the opener, but failed to set the pace right afterwards, conceding the last two terms at the death. Baltacha needed two hours and a half to get rid of the German who conceded five services in the yesterday’s session. Julia broke her opponent twice in the first set and never allowed her to take any of her own services, in what seemed to be a good day for the German.

But things were about to get wild for the world number 20 as she would drop three services in the second term. Goerges grabbed a couple of breaks early in the second term, but a late break cost her the leveler. Finally, the decider was tighter than the previous two sets, but things went from bad to worse for the third favorite who was pushed into the breaker.

Baltacha dominated the tie break, managing to go five points ahead of her opponent and head towards a hard fought win. Julia lost the breaker at two and conceded yet another early exit. Baltacha won 59 percent of service points and 42 on return, compared to the German’s 58 service one and 41 return percentage.

Next up for the Briton, who had previously ousted Barbora Strycova in two sets 6-2, 6-1, is either Aravane Rezai or Romania’s Sorana Cirstea who both have made uneasy progresses after three set epics against Magdalena Rybarikova and Jarmila Gajdosova respectively.

Another surprise was provided by Johanna Larsson who stunned Shahar peer in two sets 6-2, 6-4 in the second round. The Swede needed one hour and 25 minutes to book a third term berth, breaking the Israeli five times. Peer created all her four break points in the second set, but only converted two of the chances. She then allowed her opponent to win three more breaks in seven tries, losing the game easier than expected.

Overall, Larsson won 65 percent of service points, 50 on return and hit 59 winners to Peer’s 54, who finished the game with a 50 service percentage, a 35 return one and four double faults. The Swede will next meet the winner between Melanie Oudin and Angelique Kerber. The American has made an easy progress after Akgul Amanmuradova retired with an injury, while the German struggled through after a three set win against Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa.

This season’s Birmingham winner Sabine Lisicki defeated Alberta Brianti in less than on hour, breaking the Italian four times without conceding any of her services. Lisicki won a couple of breaks in the opener and saved both break point chances coming from the opposite side. The second set saw her pick three more breaks and seal the easy win against the world number 55 whom she met for the second time.

The head to head series between the two have now gone 1-1 with Brianti’s only win coming from the last term’s Australian Open. “It’s definitely important for me to get a win after not playing so well in Cincinnati. I had a bad day there,” said the German after the Peer loss at the Cincinnati event. Next up for Lisicki is either second seed Dominika Cibulkova or Kateryna Bondarenko.

Irina Begu, an eighth favorite in Dallas, is the fourth player to have made the progress into the third round. The Romanian eased past Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-4, 6-3 in nearly one hour and a half, after converting four of seven break points.

Begu, who had been broken twice in the early minutes, managed to set the pace in both terms, going two games ahead of her opponent in the first set and three in the last one. She thus stole one service from Dulko in the second set, sufficient though for a clear win. The Romanian won 59 percent of service points and 45 of return ones, hitting at the same time 64 winners past the world number 58 whom she was playing for the first time.

On the other side, Dulko finished the clash with a 55 service percentage, a 41 return one, but also with eight double faults and just 56 winners. Begu will face the winner between Anastasija Sevastova and Sofia Arvidsson in the third term.

Wild card Melanie Oudin needed one hour to reach the next round in Dallas as Amanmuradova abandoned the game at 6-7, 0-1 down to gift the American an easy progress. “No one likes to win by retirement, but I haven’t won in a match in a little while. It was a pretty good first set and I think I had the momentum going, so a win is a win,” said Oudin right after the meeting.

Second seed Dominika Cibulkova has advanced into the second term after easing past Mirjana Lucic 6-4 6-0. The Slovak broke her opponent six times, needing one hour and 23 minutes to make the progress in the Texas Tennis. The Croatian broke Cibulkova twice in the opener, but conceded three services to allow the favorite go one set ahead after nearly one hour.

As for the second set, it saw the same Cibulkova set the pace easier than in the first term, as she managed to keep the sheet clean throughout the entire term. The Slovak finished the game with a 58 service percentage, a 56 return one and 70 winners, compared to her opponent’s 44 service percentage, 42 return one and 52 winners.

Angelique Kerber has made a very uneasy progress when the German was forced to battle back in the first term by Scheepers. Kerber won the first set thanks to three breaks, but lost the pace in the second one when she allowed the South African break her three times. Finally, a late break helped her to close the decider at five, claiming the victory in two hours and 20 minutes. Kerber, who leads the head to head series with the world number 82 2-0, will next meet crowd favorite Melanie Oudin.

Finally, Aravane Rezai has also made a three set progress after edging Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in nearly two hours. The French conceded the first set after losing two services, but stunned the Slovak with a late comeback which saw her set the pace in the last two terms.

She thus broke her opponent three times in the second round and three more in the decider to win the game with an impressive 55 return percentage. Rezai also finished the game with a 80 percent of service points and hit 33 winners, compared to Rybarikova’s 45 service percentage and 20 return one.

Tennis Texas Prize Money and points:

Winner – $37,000 and 280 points WTA

Runner up – $19,000 and 200 points WTA

Semi finalist – $10,400 and 130 points WTA

Quarter finalist – $5,625 and 70 points WTA

Second round – $3,100 and 30 points WTA

First round – $1,825 and 1 point WTA

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