WTA Rouen, Elisabetta Cocciaretto loosens up at the best moment and wins Caroline Garcia in the first round

The victory for Elisabetta Cocciaretto fades to the best. The Marche native (n.55 in the ranking) had to surrender to French Caroline Garcia (n.23 in the ranking) in first round of the WTA in Rouen. On the French indoor red clay, Cocciaretto had the chance to bring the curtain down in his favor, serving for the match in the third set. However, the joke didn’t work as it should have and so onTransalpina prevailed with a score of 6-1 3-6 7-5 in 1 hour and 57 minutes of match.

In the first set Garcia makes use of his greater ball speed. Especially with the forehand, the host makes a big difference, piercing Cocciaretto when he tries to play the second serve. A disheartening 5-0 represents the picture of the situation, a prelude to the 6-1 of the first half for the French.

In the second set Elisabetta manages to find a better performance at serve, trying to put more effect into her execution. Having saved a break point in the fifth game, Cocciaretto surprised her opponent in the next game, going ahead 4-2. The management of exchanges is excellent for the Italian and the 6-3 smiles on her.

In the third set things seem to be getting better. Garcia is very foul and struggles to hold the exchange when she stretches. The girl from the Marche took advantage of this, breaking her rival’s serve in the third game. Our standard bearer erases a counter-break ball in the sixth game and goes on to serve for the match in the tenth. However, the light goes out for the Italian and Garcia definitely changes gear, taking advantage of Elisabetta’s many second serves. The situation, therefore, is reversed and at 7-5 it is the French team who closes the case.

Taking a look at statistics, 11 aces from Garcia compared to 4 from Cocciaretto, who also scored 8 double faults. This last figure had a significant impact on the economy of the match, in addition to the fact that the Italian tennis player obtained 63% of the points with her first serve on the court, compared to 78% of her opponent.