Former world number seven Nicole Vaidisova continued her comeback by qualifying for the main draw of the 2015 Tianjin Open, defeating Hiroko Kuwata 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in the final round of qualifications. In the first round of the main draw, Vaidisova will play China’s Duan Ying-Ying.
Vaidisova dominates opening set
The match began in relatively straight forward fashion, with both women holding their serve in the first three games of the opening set. It wasn’t until the fourth game, when the first service break of this encounter was established. After squandering two break points in Kuwata’s first service game, Vaidisova made no mistake when another break point presented itself in the Japanese woman’s second service game. Breaking at the third time of asking, the former world number seven was off to a perfect start. From there, things were smooth sailing for the Czech as she lost just two points the rest of the set. Within a matter of minutes, Vaidisova closed out the opening set in emphatic fashion, winning it by six games to one in less than half an hour.
Vaidisova fights back from early deficit, but Kuwata hangs on
In the second set, Kuwata knew that she was in danger of losing a spot in the main draw, and her level began to rise as Vaidisova’s dropped. After losing five games in a row, the Japanese woman won five games of her own, and quickly ran out to a sizeable 5-0 lead. At one point in the set, it looked like Kuwata was going to win the second set 6-0, but Vaidisova saves two set points, avoided the bagel and got on the board. That seemed to be the boost the world number 270 needed, as she fought back in impressive fashion.
After being down 0-5, Vaidisova recovered both service breaks that were against her, and held serve to level the second set at five-games-all. Kuwata responded in brilliant fashion, holding to love to go up 6-5. In the following game, both women had their chances but it was Kuwata, who seized her opportunities. After converting her sixth set point, the world number 217 won the second set 7-5 by the skin of her teeth, and levelled the match at one-set-all.
Vaidisova hangs onto crucial break to claim victory
The beginning of the third was a titanic battle to see who could hold serve first. After exchanging breaks in the first three games, it was Vaidisova who was able to stop the run of four consecutive breaks of serve, holding for a 3-1 lead. That hold of serve was crucial because it seemed to settle the former world number seven, and she had regained the belief that she could win this match. From there until the end of the match, both women were able to hold their respective service games.
Trailing 3-5, Kuwata saves a match point on her own serve and held to make Vaidisova serve for the match. The Czech was inevitably trying to fight off some nerves, given how big and important this tournament was for her comeback. Kuwata had a break point in the following game to get back on serve but that was saved emphatically by Vaidisova. Moments later, the former world number seven arrived at her second match point. This time, she made no mistake, as she converted her opportunities to close out a hard-fought 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win, sealing her place in the main draw.