[44] Timea Babos (HUN) vs. [91] Sachia Vickery (USA)
Experience favored the Hungarian; however, as we have seen many times, it is often not enough. When much is expected of you and you have not mastered the skills to handle the pressure, you often struggle to perform at your best. Sometimes the most difficult match to win is the one where you are expected to win, nerves get in the way and you lose your focus and your game.
Babos could not find her forehand in the first set and Vickery took advantage of the opportunity to steal the first set. However, if you win a set from your opponent because they made too many errors, you will have to elevate your game once they cut down on their errors.
Babos found her range in the second set and now it was up to the American to elevate her game. The problem with not having the confidence from getting very far in tournaments is that once you get a lead, doubts creep in about your ability to maintain that lead.
If you do not have a plan “B” to fall back on when plan “A” is not working then you may get even more frustrated when your opponent elevates their game. Babos is an excellent doubles player and has enough versatility in her game to change things up to confound her opponent.
Unfortunately, Vickery could not make the adjustment in her game and made too many unforced errors in her attempt to hit her way out of trouble. Meanwhile, Babos protected her serve much better in the latter two sets and Vickery in contrast did not. Babos won 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 and awaits the winner of the match featuring the number one seed, Garbine Muguruza, and Ana Bogdan.
SOURCE OF IMAGE: Zimbio.com (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images North America -Timea Babos)
