The second-seeded Kazakhstani tennis player Yulia Putintseva was eliminated at the start of the WTA 250 Thailand Open in Hua Hin. Yulia Putintseva lost to British tennis player Heather Watson by 1-2 (7:5, 6:4, 7:6) in exactly 3 hours of play.
The Kazakhstani tennis player won only 49% of the first serve points and made 4 double faults in the match, which was enough for the opponent to achieve victory and qualify for the second round.
The first set started equally. Both players won their first serve games and exchanged a break. The turning point came in the 10th game, when Heather Watson had a set point at the serve of Yulia Putintseva. However, the Kazakhstani tennis player saved it and close the game to equalize to 5:5. Heather Watson lost her next serve game and gave a change to Yulia Putintseva to win the set. The 12th game in the set was again quite emotional, with Yulia Putintseva reflecting two break points, while Heather Watson saved 3 set points for her opponent. At the end, the Kazakhstani tennis player succeeded to close the set at 7:5.
The second set started perfectly for Heather Watson, who won four games in a row to take a comfortable lead. Both exchanged two breaks and finally, the British player closed the set at 6:4.
The third set was the most dramatic, as Heather Watson achieved an early break and took a lead of 3:0. Her opponent returned the break and equalized to 3:3. After an exchange of break and match continue equally and the set entered into a tiebreak, which Heather Watson won by 7-5.
In the next round, the British player will face Na-Lae Han (South Korea), who defeated Elena Gabriela Ruse (Romania) by 2-1 (6:4, 1:6, 6:4).
In another match from the tournament, the Czech talent Linda Fruhvirtova defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) by 2-0 (6:3, 6:1), while Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) won her match versus her compatriot Ekaterina Makarova by 2-0 (6:1, 6:1).
Tatjana Maria (Germany) also qualified for the next round after eliminating Alexandra Eala (Philippines) by 2-0 (6:2, 6:2).
Nao Hibino (Japan) also advanced to the second round after defeating Russian qualifier Valeria Savinykh by 2-0 (6:0, 6:2).
