by The Norwegian Malena Helgo defeated Maltese Francesca Curmi in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, to secure a place in the quarterfinals in Perigueux. She will face the top-seed Anastasia Tikhonova.
The Norwegian’s Relentless Pursuit of the First Set
The two players were quite evenly match as expected and laid it all out on the court. Malena Helgo opened with a strong hold before attempting to mount a break early on at the change of ends. Curmi recovered a 0-30 deficit to a 40-30 lead, before the Norwegian forced a deuce. The two exchanged advantages but Curmi managed to stick the hold to level things at 1-1.
She then ramped up the attack and secured the break at the first sniff of a breakpoint to swing the balance in her favour 1-2. However, her next service game was another one that went to deuce, before the Norwegian broke straight back to level things at 2-2.
As the games wore on, Curmi’s service games became more threatened, and the Norwegian struck again at 4-3, opening a 0-40 lead on Curmi’s serve. With the pressure to recover three breakpoints, a double fault ensued handing the break to Helgo who extended the lead to 5-3. At this point she only needed to hold serve and though she double faulted the first of two set points, Helgo secured the set with the next point.
Curmi’s Comeback Nipped in the Bud
Francesca Curmi started the second set in the best possible way. She opened with a strong hold, before securing the break in the next to extend to a 2-0 lead. However, the Norwegian attacked the next game and forced a deuce. Curmi came in clutch with an ace to cancel a breakpoint, however Helgo kept up the pressure and converted the next to level the breaks. She then backed it up with a convincing hold to even the score 2-2. The Norwegian kept her foot on the gas and broke to love in the next game to nudge into the lead 3-2, before holding serve to extend the lead to 4-2.
However, Curmi arrested momentum by securing the next hold without facing a breakpoint, to reduce the deficit to 4-3. She then ramped up the attack securing 2 break points at 15-40. Helgo erased both to send the match to deuce. She faced another break point in the game but reverted it before sticking the hold to 5-3.
Pressure then shifted firmly on Curmi’s shoulders to secure a hold to stay in the match. Helgo opened with a 0-30 lead and though Curmi got the next point, the Norwegian secured two match points at 40-15. Curmi kept her head and cancelled both match points to force a deuce, before securing the hold with the next two points.
At 5-4, it was then up to the Norwegian to serve out the match. The two exchanged points, with Helgo earning a match point by nudging forward to 40-30, before securing the set with the third match point and thus the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
Key Points & Next Match
The match was as tight as one would have expected it to be. Though the Norwegian trailed in first serves in (58% to Curmi’s 73%), she was more efficient in converting those into points on the board (66% to Curmi’s 53%). The two players had outstanding statistics on second serves, both hitting the ninetieth percentile. Though both had opportunities and managed breaks, perhaps the most crucial charactistic is that of conversions. In fact, the Norwegian converted four to the Maltese’s two of nine possibilities for each, which settled the matter.
The win takes Malene Helgo into the semi-finals where she will face the number one seed Anastasia Tikhonova. Tikhonova secured her spot in the round by beating qualifier Tiantsoa Rakotamanga Rajaonah in another tense affair that ended, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Photos: Alex Buttigieg / Ralf Reinecke
