Lucic simply overpowered Vesnina. Vesnina tried mixing it up, especially in the second set, but Mirjana handled pretty much everything. She won a few long rallies, but mostly kept the rallies short. She teed off on Elena's serve, hitting many outright winners off the return. She even won a battle of slices on one pt. Seriously, Lucic hit two slices in a row and won the pt. You know things are going right when that happens.
Someone has put a 10 minute clip of the match on youtube, but it is only the last two games.
After all the drama Mirjana has given us the past couple of years, I was absolutely convinced that the match would unravel for her when she got broken for 54. So happy she proved me wrong.
The extra 60 points will come in very handy. There's even a chance she'll be top 90 next week!
So so so happy for her! What an amazing match for her!
I think it's cute that she now has a bit of an italian accent, probably from the hubby (that ah after she says a word)!
Just have fun out there against Na!
Yes, there is a chance, if Mirjana takes out Li, and Vekic doesn't take the title in Turkey. There's Martic in the mix as well, who can become again our #1 if Vekic fails to win the title and Martic reaches the final in Morrocco. Or to put it in numbers:
- Vekic defending 35 points, maximum to win 70, currently at 780
- Mirjana defending 0, already at 80, could win 140 with another win, currently at 661 (without the 80 added)
- Martic defending 0, 280 in case of a title/200 for a final/130 for SF, currently at 679
She seemed very mature and philosophical in the interview. It appears she's relaxed and at the present time not putting too much pressure on herself. Good to hear. As for being the highest ranking Croatian, She may not technically be the highest right now, but I think she is playing in the hardest tournaments and against the best opponents of the lot. Vekic is higher ranked, but most of that is based on one tournament last year. Martic hasn't been playing well.
Very happy for Mirjana. Great performance. Such an important win. Nothing to lose in R2 against Top 5 player Li who is huge favourite. Stuttgart already has been a success for Mirjana no matter what happens now.
And what better place to enjoy her tennis this much than her homeland - the Croat was actually born in Dortmund, Germany. "It's really fun for me to play here in Germany where I was born," Lucic-Baroni commented. "I have a lot of good friends who come to see me when I'm playing here, so it's nice!"
I sure hope this turns into a good news for our pair, although both Craybas and Moulton-Levy are very active on the doubles circuit and are not harmless. It'll sure be an interesting day tomorrow
If they win they have big chance for final, but I see germans as favorites.
Just read on Li thread that she might wd to go to China, but I doubt that since she's on tomorrrows OOP.
Anyway, not sure I would like Mirjana to play Muguruza either but we will see..
I hope Li doesn't withdraw. I doubt she would have come to Germany if she was thinking about not playing or had an injury. Maybe she got scared watching Mirjana.