Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands met for the third time in their careers. The good friends had met on two previous occasions prior to their first round match at Wimbledon. Both players had won one of these matches each, with Mattek-Sands winning the most recent clash in 2010. With a chance to put their selves ahead in the head to head as well as the opportunity to progress in the tournament, both players were determined to win.
This was shown in the match, as both Safarova and Mattek-Sands gave their all during the time they were on the court. After taking the first set, Mattek-Sands had four chances to take the match, however, she could not capitalize on any of them. This allowed Safarova to get herself back in the match. The Czech found a way to edge past Mattek-Sands to win the match in just under three hours.
Mattek-Sands takes the set via a tiebreaker
Safarova served first in the match and got off to the best possible start. The Czech player opened her account with a strong love hold of serve. Safarova then raced to a 40-0 lead during Mattek-Sands service game. Unfortunately for Safarova, Mattek-Sands started to play some impressive tennis, which allowed her to save all three break point opportunities. The American then went on to win the next two points, to hold her service and get herself on the scoreboard.
It was Safarova who got the upper hand in the set, as she broke Mattek-Sands to love in the fourth game. The Czech player was not in the lead for long though, as she failed to consolidate the break. Safarova started to hit a number of errors, which gifted Mattek-Sands with a break point opportunity. Mattek-Sands did not falter as she took her opportunity on the first time of asking.
After the exchange of breaks, both players restored normality with a comfortable hold of serve. In the eighth game of the set, Safarova had another opportunity to put herself ahead. Unfortunately for Safarova, Mattek-Sands prevented her from taking the opportunity, before winning the game herself. The remainder of the set went the way of the server, with Safarova and Mattek-Sands both winning their service games with relative ease.
With the score at 6-6, a tiebreaker was needed to decide on who would win the opening set and put their selves in a strong position in the match. The tiebreaker went back and forth between the two players, with both Safarova and Mattek-Sands exchanging mini breaks throughout it. Mattek-Sands had two set point opportunities at 6-5 and 7-6, however, Safarova saved them both. Mattek-Sands won the tiebreaker on the third time of asking, winning the tiebreaker 9-7 and putting herself in a commanding position in the set.
Safarova comes from behind to level the score
The first three games of the set, were similar to the last few games in the previous set, with both players winning their service games with ease. Mattek-Sands got the upper hand in the fourth game, as she broke Safarova. The American played some brilliant shots, to work herself a break point opportunity, which she capitalized on to put herself ahead in the second set.
Mattek-Sands did not have the lead in the set for long, as Safarova quickly leveled the score. Safarova showed glimpses of her pre-injury form as she breezed through the game, to break Mattek-Sands on the first time of asking. Unfortunately for Safarova, she could not consolidate the break of serve, which allowed Mattek-Sands to regain control of the set once again. Safarova fought off one break point opportunity but soon after she gifted Mattek-Sands another chance to take the game. The American did not need to be asked again, as she took her chance and put herself set and a break ahead, once more.
Mattek-Sands put herself further ahead in the set, as she won the seventh game to love, putting herself within one game of progressing into the next round. Mattek-Sands was soon serving for the match after Safarova held her service game to love. Unfortunately for the American, the pressure of serving for the match got to her, which allowed Safarova to break and get herself back into the set.
After getting the break back, Safarova had to hold her serve to keep herself in the match. The Czech player did not make it easy for herself, as she gifted Mattek-Sands a break and match point opportunity. Eventually, though, Safarova managed to prevent Mattek-Sands from taking the chance before she won the game herself. Mattek-Sands and Safarova both won their remaining service games, which meant that a tiebreaker was needed to decide the winner of the set once again.
Safarova took control of the tiebreaker early on, as she picked up the mini-break on the fifth point. From here the Czech player looked comfortable, winning four of the five remaining points in the tiebreaker. There was nothing Mattek-Sands could do to halt Safarova's momentum, and the Czech took the match to a decisive third set.
Safarova fights off three match points, before taking the match
At the start of the final set, Mattek-Sands had a medical time out for an issue with her hand. Once this was sorted, Safarova and Mattek-Sands both started the set with a comfortable hold of service. In the third game, Mattek-Sands took control of the match as she broke Safarova. The American played some impressive shots at the net, on her way to picking up the break.
Like in the previous two sets, one break of service sparked another and Safarova instantly got herself back level in the set. Safarova had two opportunities to break Mattek-Sands, one of which the American managed to prevent Safarova from taking. This did not deter Safarova as she took the game on the second time of asking, leveling the score in the match once again.
In the fifth game, Mattek-Sands put herself in a commanding position for the second time in the set. The American made the most of some poor play by Safarova to break to love. From here both players were able to win their service games with relative ease, this was until the ninth game. In what was a very scrappy game by both players, Mattek-Sands found herself with a break and match point opportunity. Safarova managed to fight off the chance before going on to serve the game out.
Safarova punished Mattek-Sands for not taking her chance in the previous game. The Czech player fended off another match point opportunity before going on to take her second break point chance and put the set back on serve. Safarova consolidated the break with a strong hold of service, with quickly put Mattek-Sands back under pressure.
The American had to hold her service, to keep herself in the match. Unfortunately for her, Safarova was just too strong. Mattek-Sands fought hard right up until the last point, but poor decision making and shot play allowed Safarova to put herself into a position where she could take the match. There was nothing Mattek-Sands could do to stop her doubles partner from taking the game, set and match with her first opportunity.
After a closely contested match that lasted just under three hours, Safarova found a way to scrape past Mattek-Sands. The Czech player progresses into the second round of the tournament where she will face Samantha Crawford.