Anna Karolina Schmiedlova kicked off the Ericsson Open against wildcard Susanne Celik. Schmiedlova was still hunting for her first main draw match win since January while Celik already has four ITF titles in the bag for the year.
The Slovak got off to a great start taking the first set in under half an hour. The second set was a struggle with both women conjuring up plenty of chances to break. The Swede may be ranked 100 positions away but was giving the fifth seed a tough time. Eventually, though, Schmiedlova managed to wrap up the victory 6-1, 6-3 progressing to the second round in all competitions for just the third time this year.
Celik struggles with serve as Schmiedlova breezes through
Schmiedlova was off to a fine start flying to a 3-0 lead capitalizing on a sluggish start by Celik. The wildcard was having a nightmare on serve winning just one point in her first two service games. The Swede did have a couple of break point in the fourth game as the Slovak herself struggled to get first serves in, allowing Celik to get one of the breaks back for 1-3.
The fifth seed was piling on the pressure on the Swede’s serve and she eventually broke once more despite Celik’s efforts, to extend her lead to 4-1. And this time, Schmiedlova consolidated the break with ease to go up 5-1. The Swede’s struggles on serve continued as the Slovak wrapped up the set 6-1 on her second set point needing just half an hour.
Both players struggle to hold before Schmiedlova edges it
Celik rebounded in the second set breaking Schmiedlova’s serve to love for an immediate break. The Swede went on to consolidate the break to hold serve for the first time in the match. The fifth seed was 40-15 up in the third game but bottled the lead as Celik set up a break point. Schmiedlova just about managed to snuff out the chance and deny the Swede the double break to hang on for 1-2.
The wildcard lost her lead though as the Slovak converted her first break point of the set to level the set 2-2. Schmiedlova was not having an easy time on serve as a double fault gave Celik a couple of chances to get the lead once more. She fended off both of the chances but was under pressure from the Swede who kept pushing her back to deuce. As the game got longer, Celik had carved out another couple of opportunities to break. However, a fighting Schmiedlova eventually dug out an important hold to edge 3-2 ahead.
The Swede was the one who now had trouble closing out her service games and was broken in the crucial eighth game handing Schmiedlova a 5-3 lead. Serving for the set, the Slovak did not have it easy as Celik conjured up a break back point. Schmiedlova was not fazed though as she rescued the point and went on to close out her first win on the WTA tour since January.