Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova has defeated Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi in the first round of the Moorilla Hobart International today.
Gajdosova powered forward with sharp ground-strokes and steady return of serve to take the first set 6-4. The Australian, who has had little match play since mid-September, looked in solid form as she executed deep down-the-line forehands and powerful first serves to overcome Oprandi.
“I think overall I played a pretty decent match. I mean there were a few errors but I managed to get out of it and still won in straight sets. I held my serve pretty well when it counted and when I needed to and it was a pretty solid performance,” she said.
The second set was a battle from the baseline with the Swiss world no. 59 clawing back to make her mark early. Gajdosova held her ground and with steady ball returning evened the score to 5-5.
The set could have tipped either way but the Aussie dug her heels in and broke Oprandi, paving her way to serve for the match. After a run of hard-hitting and a final clean forehand down the line Gajdosova won the second set 7-5.
The former Moorilla Hobart champion will next take on Olga Govortsova.
“She’s a very good ball striker. She won pretty comfortably yesterday and it was a good win. She’s going to go for it, she hits a good ball and good returns of serve. It will be interesting but I’m up for it.”
By Rosie Jones