Irina-Camelia Begu confirmed her fine form on clay and reached the fourth round at French Open for the first time in career. The Romanian’s rewarding clay season already included a quarterfinal at Mutua Madrid Open and a semifinal at Internazionali BNL d’Italia, as well as two top-ten wins (against Garbiñe Muguruza in Madrid, and Victoria Azarenka in Rome).
After winning the longest WTA match of 2016 against Coco Vandeweghe in the second round, she needed another three-set match to prevail over Germany’s Annika Beck in their first career meeting.
Begu Took The Lead In The First Set
It was Beck that gained an early control of the match, holding her serve to love and immediately obtaining two break points; she converted the first one to set a lead of 2-0. Lead that she immediately lost, as Begu battled back to earn three break points; an error from the net by the German on the second one brought the game back on serve.
After two comfortable holds from both players, Beck tried to take the lead again, obtaining a break point in the sixth game (saved by Begu with a backhand winner) and five break points in the eighth, whom she failed to convert; with a drop shot winner and a forehand from the net Begu finally managed to hold, settling the score to 4-4.
The failure to gain the momentum seemed to unsettle the German, since she immediately dropped her serve, giving the Romanian the chance to serve for the set. Three set points saved haven’t been enough for Beck since Begu managed to convert her fourth one to close the first set with a 6-4.
Beck Battles Back To Go To The Third
The second set didn't have an easy start for the German since she immediately needed to save two break points to hold in the first game. Begu easily held, and then forced her opponent to deuce three times on her serve, putting pressure on her, but not enough to gain the chance to break.
The German immediately reacted and managed to take the lead in the fourth game, breaking Begu’s serve on the third try. In what seemed a replay of the first set, the Romanian immediately got two chances to break back but failed to convert them as Beck successfully held to keep the lead.
It has been the Romanian’s last chance to re-open the games; she held to 2-4, but she didn’t earn any more chance to battle back, and she eventually lost her serve to love while serving to remain in the set, letting the German close the score to 6-2.
Begu Dominates To Take The Third
The third set didn’t start in the best way for the Romanian, booed by the crowd as she stepped back on the court for taking a too long break between the sets.
Begu immediately tried to get going, earning two break points but failing to convert any of them. The Romanian then went to take full control of the game. Finding a better consistency on her serve, she didn’t give Beck any more chance to re-open the games. There was little left to do for the German to stay in the match; she only managed to win four points after the first game. Begu closed the shortest set of the match with a backhand winner on her first match point, after two hours and five minutes of play.
Begu Will Face Shelby Rogers For A Place In The Quarterfinals
With a win in the next match, Begu could earn the chance to access to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time. On her path, she’s going to meet American Shelby Rogers, who upset tenth seed Petra Kvitova in the third round. The two players will meet for the first time.