There was a huge upset in the morning of the Ladies Open Biel-Bienne as qualifier Marketa Vondrousova managed to outclass Annika Beck in straight sets, triumphing in just 72 minutes to clinch a spot in her first ever WTA quarterfinal.
Vondrousova runs off with the first set
The underdog made a quick start to the match as she came out firing, with Beck making the wrong decision when she opted to receive to start the match despite winning the coin toss. It might have been just the first time that Vondrousova had been exposed to the international stage as this was just her second appearance in a WTA main draw, with her first being due to a wildcard received in her home event at the Prague Open last year where she reached the second round, losing to Samantha Stosur.
She managed to adapt to the courts well as she got past the qualifying rounds of a WTA tournament for the first time in her career, and started to play her best tennis as she held her serve to love in the opening game with her destructive serve before making the first breakthrough when she came up with some strong returns to mix up Beck’s rhythm, causing her to lose her service game and get broken to trail by the early deficit. Feeling the pressure of getting the early lead, Vondrousova was then broken straight back by the German despite holding a game point, looking slightly inconsistent on her groundstrokes as she often hit unforced errors to gift Beck some free points.
Nevertheless, Vondrousova showed a certain level of maturity in her game as she managed to maintain her composure and regained the lead immediately, eventually strolling to clinch the first set 6-1 after just a mere 29 minutes. Beck was often troubled by Vondrousova’s drop shots, which were common throughout the match as they allowed the young Czech to take the chance to go on the offense.
Vondrousova fends off comeback
Beck had the golden opportunity to take the lead at the start of the second set as she earned two break point opportunities in her opening return game. However, the 17-year-old youngster showed some nerves of steel to fend off those break points and narrowly hold her serve, showing her potential of being a future top player.
Similar to the first set, it was Vondrousova who made the first breakthrough as she carried her momentum over to this set to take a formidable lead of a set and a break, edging closer to the huge upset. Nerves did not really get to her today as she saved her fourth break point of the day to consolidate the service break and open up a two-game lead in the set.
Vondrousova’s amazing and unbelievable form continued when she took a huge double break lead in the second set, with the victory now safely secured in her hands. However, she almost suffered a huge shock as Beck threatened to mount an improbable comeback, getting one of the breaks back and lessened the deficit to just one game. The pivotal moment of the game then came by as Beck earned yet another break point opportunity in the eighth game, this time a point for the scores to return level all of a sudden.
Vondrousova stepped up her game just at the right moment, lessening on her unforced errors count to eventually steal that service hold and place herself just one game away from the huge win. With some disappointing tennis, Beck lost her serve for the sixth time in the match as Vondrousova continued showing her potential throughout this match, prevailing in just 72 minutes, earning the biggest victory of her career.
