Carlsbad, Calif. – A year ago, Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova easily defeated China’s Jie Zheng, 6-2, 6-1 in the third round of the Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center.
On a breezy Thursday afternoon on Stadium Court at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Hantuchova once again eliminated Zheng, but this time she needed two-hours and 15 minutes to score a narrow 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory and advance to the quarterfinals.
In the first set, Hantuchova, who is seeded eighth, broke serve in the fourth game and went on to build a 5-2 lead. Zheng served to stay in the set, but Hantuchova broke again to win the set in 39 minutes.
Hantuchova looked poised for another straight-set victory as she held serve to open the second set and then broke Zheng’s serve for the third time in the match to take a 2-0 lead.
Zheng then changed her game and began to take the ball earlier, which rushed Hantuchova. The strategy worked as Zheng won five of the next six games and easily served out the second set in the tenth game.
Hantuchova dropped her serve in the opening game of the third set when she double faulted on break point. Later in the final set, Zheng took a 4-2 lead and seemed to be on her way to the quarterfinals.
The turning point of the set came in the seventh game when Hantuchova fought off two break points on her serve and won a tightly-contested 12-point game.
Hantuchova tied the set at 4-4 in the next game as she broke Zheng at love. With the momentum clearly in her favor, Hantuchova won eight of the last ten points to seal the match.
With the third-round victory, Hantuchova improved her career head-to-head record against Zheng to 5-0.
In a rematch of last year’s semifinals, Hantuchova will face 2010 Mercury Insurance Open finalist Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in a Friday quarterfinal match scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Stadium Court.
Individual tickets are now on sale for the 2011 Mercury Insurance Open, July 30 to August 7 at the La Costa Resort and Spa. Reserved grandstand and box seat tickets, which range from $10-$125, are now available online at mercuryinsuranceopen.com or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com. Tournament ticket packages are also on sale and begin at $70.
The Mercury Insurance Open, a Premier 700 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) event offering $721,000 in prize money, will feature a 56-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw in 2011. The women’s professional tennis event returned to the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad in 2010 after a two-year hiatus. Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova won the singles title last summer when she defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the final. The tournament will be televised on the Tennis Channel and ESPN 2.
The Mercury Insurance Open is a participating tournament in the Olympus US Open Series. The US Open Series, now in its eighth year, is a six-week summer tennis season that links 10 ATP World Tour and WTA tournaments together. The series leads into the US Open. The Mercury Insurance Open is the second women’s event within the series. For additional information about the Mercury Insurance Open Presented by Tri-City Medical Center, log onto http://www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com/, join us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SDTennis) or follow frequent updates on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MercuryInsOpen). Text “CARLSBAD” to 55333 to join the tournament’s VIP text club and receive up-to-the-minute news, tournament information and player announcements right on your mobile device. Standard text message rates apply.
About Mercury Insurance
Mercury Insurance (MCY) is a multiple-line insurance organization predominantly offering personal automobile and homeowners insurance through a network of independent agents and brokers in California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Arizona, New York, Georgia, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Founded in 1962, Mercury specializes in providing quality insurance at affordable prices – core values that distinguish Mercury in the marketplace. For more information about Mercury Insurance, visit www.mercuryinsurance.com.
About Tri-City Medical Center
Tri-City Medical Center is a Joint Commission gold seal accredited, full-service, acute care hospital with three advanced clinical institutes and physicians practicing in 60 specialties. Administered by the Tri-City Healthcare District which includes Oceanside, Vista and most of Carlsbad, Tri-City is celebrating 50 years caring for the community. For more information about Tri-City Medical Center, please visit www.tricitymed.org.
About Octagon Tennis
Octagon’s history and tradition in tennis dates back nearly 40 years. Octagon has played an important role in the globalization of professional tennis. Our long-standing reputation for integrity is the foundation of our leadership position in the industry. Our mission is to serve as the pre-eminent management and marketing agency worldwide for the representation of tennis players. For more information, visit www.octagontennis.com.