Monica Puig continued her winning ways in 2016 on Tuesday evening, edging out qualifier Samantha Crawford 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 23 minutes to book her place in the second round of the 2016 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, where she will play Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer next.
Early Break Proves Decisive for Puig
With both women looking to get the first strike in as many rallies as possible, it is no surprise that the match began on level terms with both players opening the match with a pair of holds.
However, it was only a matter of time until the Puerto Rican number one asserted her authority on this first round encounter, drawing first blood in the third game to mount an early 2-1 lead. From there, the rest of the set went with serve, though all the games were like mini-battles that eventually led to a big war.
With both women dominating from the back of the court once they had been given an opportunity to attack, it was Puig's consistency compared to Crawford's hit-and-miss attitude that made the real difference in the final outcome of the opening set, with the Puerto Rican coming out on top, winning it 6-4 as another unforced error flew off the racquet of the American qualifier.
Puig Holds Her Nerve to Seal Victory in Straight Sets
In contrast to the first set, the second began with a pair of breaks, as both women had seemingly lost their rhythm on serve. However, much like in the first frame, it was Puig who was quick to reassert her authority after a minor blip on serve, breaking for a third time to go a set and 2-1 to the good. Not long thereafter, the world number 58 would go on to consolidate the early break, and was now seemingly in control of the match.
Just moments later, Puig would soon find herself with two opportunities to go up a double break, but failed to capitalize as she was unable to withstand the late resurgence of her American counterpart. Going for broke, Crawford's inconsistency soon began to fade away and was replaced with a glorious combination of power and depth that seemed to overwhelm Puig from the back of the court. As a result, the American would go on to save those two break points before holding her serve and suddenly, it was Puig who was beginning to miss.
In a matter of minutes, Crawford went from being at risk of going down a set and a double break to having three chances to restore parity at 3-all. Despite the efforts of the Puerto Rican number one to save the first two, the American qualifier made no mistake on the third, breaking as a Puig forehand drifted wide. Now seemingly with the momentum, Crawford would go on to hold with relative ease and the pressure was now back on the world number 58.
In her first real test of the match, Puig passed with flying colours, answering with a hold of her own to level the second set at 4-all. As the set reached its climax, it was unsurprisingly Crawford who began to crack under the pressure while Puig held firm, thus allowing the 22-year-old to grab the crucial break to lead 5-4. When given the opportunity to serve out the match, Puig needed no second invitation, closing out a hard-fought victory at the first time of asking to book her place in the second round, where she will face Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer.