Sofia Kenin has been looking really solid in Abu Dhabi this week and she added yet another win on Saturday over Sorana Cirstea.
Cirstea was in a pretty tricky position before this match because her team lost both of the first two matches of the tie. The team kind of fell apart with two players withdrawing during the event including Elena Rybakina who went down because of sickness.
That left the team quite vulnerable as they were trailing after the first two matches. The format of this event, though, allows for comebacks because games are counted as points. A score like 6-1 can easily erase two lost matches if the scores in that one were 6-4 or 7-6 or something similar.
Each tie has 5 matches, so there are plenty of chances to rack up the points needed for a comeback. For a while, it seemed like Cirstea could get it done as she took an early break in this one. Kenin was a bit erratic, which isn't unusual, but as expected she quickly found her rhythm.
After breaking back, the American took a 3-2 lead, but Cirstea made it 3-3. Both played better as the match went on but that wasn't hard because both were quite erratic to start the match. Cirstea needed to win to keep her team in play because if she lost, her team would be in a pretty big hole with few chances to get out.
To her credit, Cirstea gave it her all but really struggled to keep up with Kenin as the match went on. The American is the more talented player and she's getting closer to her best tennis so her winning in the end seems right.
The 6-4 win gives her team, the Eagles an 18-12 lead which is quite significant. Stick with us to find out how the tie ends up going.
0 Comments