Just a week ago at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Germany’s Julia Goerges brought her best tennis to the table and humbled Svetlana Kuznetsova by giving away just one game, 6-0 6-1, in the 55-minute first-round match. This week at the Qatar Total Open in Doha, the two-time Grand Slam champion had a chance for revenge, again in the first round, and she used it to the fullest, comfortably winning the match.
The world No.53 Goerges did start the match with a scare for Kuznetsova, by going up 2-0, but since then the encounter was all about the Russian. Kuznetsova won six straight games for a 4-2 lead in the first set, that quickly translated it into 6-3. In the second set Kuznetsova was never even in a deficit, while only in the ninth game, when the world No.21 was serving for the match, Goerges showed some resistance, had a couple of break points and saved three match points, however, the Russian cruised to a 6-3 6-3 victory.
In both sets Kuznetsova hit seven winners to seven unforced errors, while Goerges finished the encounter with 24 winners to 27 unforced errors.
In the second round of Doha, Kuznetsova will face Jelena Ostapenko. (photo: Jimmie48)
