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Hua Hin Open Day 2- summary of match that took place between Su-Jeong Jang v Zhu Lin

By Myre Aberdan

China's Zhu Lin celebrates victory against Canada's Rebecca Marino after their women's singles match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 16, 2023. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by Paul CROCK / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP via Getty Images)
China's Zhu Lin celebrates victory against Canada's Rebecca Marino after their women's singles match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 16, 2023. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by Paul CROCK / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Match summary

What can one say? This match was one of those contests which proves that matches at 250 level can really be more entertaining than many grand slam matches. Really really clean ball striking from both players, and it wasn’t one of those matches where your attention got broken by constant unforced errors. There was barely any banking of return balls into the nets off serves, or balls going wide off returns of serves. Jang secured the break at 2-1 in the second set. However in the 3rd game of the second set, Jang was broken back. Zhu then broke back in the very next game!

At one point, there were 22 games with 11 breaks of serve! 6 breaks of serve from Zhu and 5 breaks of serve from Jang. Jang also had 2 opportunities to serve it out in the second set, but did not capitalise. In the tiebreak, Jang took the early lead and rushed out of the gates with a 2-0 lead. Jang then took the mini-break in the tiebreak at 3-2, but that was precisely when the wheels started to fall off  the bus. Jang was up 4-2 in the tiebreak, but then proceeded to lose the next 4 straight points in the tiebreak to then face her first match point against her. Jang admirably saved 2 match points but in the end it wasn’t enough and eventually succumbed to Zhu, who with this victory made her second WTA quarter-final of 2023.

Jang had won 7 WTA matches prior to this encounter, with almost 100 spots separating Zhu from Jang. Jang had very successful 2022, winning  Bastad in July. Zhu on the other hand has had a breakthrough 2023 already. She beat Maria Sakkari in the 3rd round of the Australian Open, but lost narrowly to Victoria Azarenka in the last16 of the Australian Open. Zhu also made the QF of the Auckland 250 in 2023. Now Zhu will face the winner of Fruhvirtova/Zidanšek  in the QF of the Hua Hin Open.

Side action

It was interesting that the DJ went with playing Gangnam Style on Centre Court at the sit-down in the second set- given that Jang is from South Korea. This match also felt like it was absolutely going to go the distance, as when Jang was leading in the second set tie-break, the match had already played out for 2hrs and 12 minutes! A shame the 3rd set didn’t eventuate, because it would have been quite a long match.

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