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| Capriati conquers brave Baltacha |
25 giugno 2004
Wimbledon
It was a contest which looked as if it would
provide a Centre Court stroll in the sun for seventh seed Jennifer Capriati
and a learning occasion for Britain's Elena Baltacha, ranked 331 in the
world. Instead, the 20-year-old Baltacha put on an exhilarating fight which
rattled the American, who needed 1 hour 13 minutes to run out a slightly
relieved 6-4, 6-4 winner of this second round match.
Capriati, 28, is making her 11th Wimbledon appearance and has twice been a
semi-finalist, first in 1991 and then again 10 years later in 2001. So she
is no stranger to Centre Court and that experience, added to her undisputed
all-round superiority as a player, looked as if it would make the match a
formality.
She broke Baltacha in the opening game, but was clearly taken aback when the
British player broke right back.
When Baltacha failed to hold serve in her next two games and Capriati led
5-1, a rout looked on the cards, and Baltacha had to save a set point on her
own serve in the next game. Thus reprieved, she promptly broke Capriati
again and won the next game, too, before reality was restored and the
American took the first set after 33 minutes.
Another capture of the Baltacha serve to put her 2-1 in front must have had
Capriati thinking victory was close, but the young Briton battled
magnificently, running her opponent around with some hefty, deep ground
strokes, without ever managing the break back of serve which would have
given her hope of achieving an upset.
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