Magda Linette and the American Caty McNally lost in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells doubles tournament. They were defeated by a duo from Japan, finalists of this year’s Australian Open: Shuko Aoyama-Ena Shibahara 6:4, 3:6, 10:8.
It was a very even game, which was settled in a super tie-break, played to ten points. In it, a lot depended on Magda Linette. The Polish tennis player was great at the net twice and scored three points, but on the other hand she also made four mistakes in actions, sending the ball into the throw-in. With the score 7:7, Linette showed off a great volley at the net, after which the audience applauded for a long time. However, this did not help, because the Japanese won the next three actions and the match. With the match ball, the Polish woman played from the backhand from the end of the line, but Aoyama showed off a great volley at the net.
The end of the first set for the Japanese
Magda Linette and 21-year-old American Caty McNally had a very difficult task. In the quarter-finals of the doubles tournament in Indian Wells, they faced the finalists of this year’s Australian Open.
The beginning of the match definitely belonged to the Japanese, who won the first twelve out of fifteen actions and led with a double break as much as 3:0. Then, however, the Polish-American couple began to play much better. She won three games in a row 3:3 and the duel began to be very even. At 4:4, Magda Linette served and it was 40:30. Then the Polish woman committed a double service error, and in the next action at the net Aoyama behaved well and the Japanese were leading 5:4. They won the tenth game confidently, losing only a point and the first set, which lasted forty minutes – 6:4. The Japanese dominated mainly in points won after the first serve (73-39%).
One break decided the second set
The fate of the second set was decided by one break – in the eighth game. Then she served Aoyama. She made two simple errors – a backhand from the backhand and a double serve. In addition, the rivals were right – Linette played an effective volley at the net, and at the break-point McNally showed off a great return from the backhand. A moment later, in the ninth game, she served Linette and did not lose a single point. As a result, there was a super tie-break, which we wrote about above.
Aoyama-Shibahara in the semi-finals will face the winners of the match: Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakowa (both Czech Republic) – Storm Hunter/Elise Mertens (Australia, Belgium).
