Sun vs Noskova: Monterrey Final Analysis (WTA 500)

Linda Noskova outplayed Lulu Sun on the backhand side to secure her first WTA Tour title.

Linda Noskova (WTA #29) celebrated her maiden WTA Tour title after defeating Lulu Sun (WTA #64) 7-6(6) 6-4 in the Monterrey final.

credit: Abierto GNP Seguros twitter

In a big-hitting match, both players enjoyed a lot of success behind 1st serves: Noskova won 79% of 1st serve points while Sun ended at 77%.

Noskova started better, jumping ahead 2-0 after firing 3 return winners in Sun’s first serve game. Sun broke back immediately and began to dictate more. She would finish the opening set with 5 more winners (17-12) but also 5 more unforced errors (22-17). Even though both players created break points in 2 additional return games, the set had no more breaks and a tie-break was reached. A single mini-break (a Noskova double-fault) gave Sun a 6:4 lead and 2 set points. This was the moment Noskova’s backhand took over, producing 2 groundstroke winners (with an unreturned serve in between) plus a forcing return on her own set point to complete a sequence of 4 straight points and turn the tie-break around.

The second set was filled with high-quality tennis. Noskova had 0 unforced errors and just 6 errors in total. Sun hit a winner in 21 of 27 points won!

With players winning at least 85% of 1st serve points in set 2, they only conceded 1 break point chance. Noskova came up with a “serve+1” winner to erase the break point she faced while Sun made a “serve+1” error to surrender her serve. After that, Noskova kept the lead emphatically, winning 12 of her last 14 serve points. With her first WTA Tour title in sight, the 19-year old closed the match with consecutive aces.

“Her forehand was really killing, so I tried to stay off of it as much as possible. But it was tough at times, especially when I was 4:6 in the tie-break. I'm glad I managed to change that into my positive.”

— Linda Noskova

Indeed, until 6:4 in the first set tie-break, Sun’s forehand was shining and only Noskova’s backhand was relatively close.

Performances until 6-6 6:4

Sun

• Forehand: 7 winners / 9 errors = -2

• Backhand: 6 winners / 27 errors = -21

Noskova

• Forehand: 4 winners / 18 errors = -14

• Backhand: 6 winners / 12 errors = -6

Noskova turned the tie-break around by converting its last points into backhand-to-backhand exchanges, denying Sun the ability to strike another forehand until the set was virtually over.

• 6-6 6:4 (Sun set point #1)

Noskova played twice to Sun’s backhand before finishing the rally with a backhand winner.