Craybas ousts Harkleroad | ASB CLASSIC HEINEKEN OPEN | ONE SPORT | tvnz.co.nz
Craybas ousts Harkleroad
Jan 3, 2006
By Dale Budge at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland

Veteran American Jill Craybas ousted ASB Classic crowd favourite Ashley Harkleroad in the match of the tournament 2-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) on court six at the ASB Tennis Centre on Tuesday.

In a thrilling dog fight the two Americans punched and counter-punched in a match that swung back and forth throughout.

Harkleroad, the 2004 losing finalist in Auckland, claimed the first set comfortably 6-2 and appeared ready to move into the next round.

But the gutsy 32-year-old Craybas called on all her experience and determination to come back in the second set and win it in a canter 6-1.

Harkleroad dropped two service games early in the deciding set and it appeared she was tiring in the Auckland heat.

But with a willingness to fight against all odds she broke Craybas twice in succession while holding serve to level the match.

Craybas broke once more to take a 6-5 lead and serve for the match but the 20 year-old Harkleroad stormed back to break and force a tie-break.

Even in the tie-break neither player would give in as all points were long rallies - some over 25 shots - leaving both women gasping for breath.

Eventually Harkleroad could not save a second match point and Craybas went through to the second round where she will meet either second seed Daniela Hantuchova or Yulia Beygelzimer.

Source: One Sport
tvnz.co.nz | ERROR | 500
TVNZ
We apologise for the inconvenience and are currently undergoing maintenance work to fix these problems
INTERNAL SERVER ERROR.
If you have any queries about this error, please email us.
Document: (none)
Remote host: 192.168.195.22
Server time: Saturday, 21-Nov-2009 23:27:40 NZDT