PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Varvara Flink on her way to the Cincinnati Main Draw. Pete Ziebron Images
Russian Wild Card Varvara Flink, ranked #357 overcame improbable odds on Sunday to advance to the main draw of the Western & Southern Open. At the end of the day, Flink won two matches and defeated world #35 Misaki Doi to gain entry onto the main draw.
Flink and qualifying seed #22 Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey were originally scheduled to play the fifth match on Court 10 on Saturday. Due to major reshuffling of the order of play, the match was later moved to Court 3. However theirs was one of six matches that were not completed on Saturday due to four lengthy rain delays. In fact, play for the day on Saturday was called just after 10 PM and right after Flink and Buyukakcay completed their warmups on Court 3.
Once again, heavy rain in southern Ohio did significant damage to the schedule at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday. Despite a 10 AM start, just four points were played on the grounds for nearly the first five hours of the schedule. As a result, the Flink - Buyukakcay match was moved from Court 3 to tiny Court 6, where play finally started at 4:21 PM.
It was "one of those days" for Cagla Buyukakcay against Varvara Flink in Cincinnati on Sunday. Pete Ziebron Images
Flink's solid backhands seemed to keep Buyukakcay out of rhythm for most of the match. Despite being broken while serving at 2-1 in the opening set, Flink would go on to win 10 of the last 13 games of the match to advance to the second round of the qualifying draw. The Russian's 6-4 6-1 victory in 87 minutes earned her the right to play for a place in the main draw against the #1 seed in qualifying, Misaki Doi of Japan, who also won her match that started on Saturday, earlier in the day.
Doi started quickly, winning 15 of the first 16 points of the match, racing to a 4-0 lead, and eventually claiming the opening set 6-0 in just 22 minutes. The sparse crowd on Court 10 had no idea what was in store over the next 2 hours.
Late in the first set, Flink started to find her game, despite not winning a game. This flash of momentum carried over into the beginning of the second set as Flink broke to open the set and then consolidated the break to lead 2-0. Doi then replicated the play that she exhibited in the first set and reeled off five consecutive games to lead 5-2 and put herself one game away from a win and spot in the main draw.
Serving to stay in the match, Flink held at love and then broke Doi on her second opportunity to get to 4-5. Next, Flink held serve again to level the set at 5-all, then would have to hold serve yet again at 5-6 to take the second set to a tiebreaker, which she accomplished.
After successfully holding serve 3 times when serving to stay in the match, Flink could exhale for a moment going into the tiebreaker. Next, Flink would race to a 4-0 lead, only to see Doi win the next 5 consecutive points. Now it was Flink's turn to get on a roll and she won the final 3 points of the breaker to win it 7-5 and force the match to a deciding set.
Varvara Flink in action in Cincinnati. Pete Ziebron Images
Flink broke Doi as she served at 1-2 however, she was not able to consolidate as Doi broke back and then held serve to level the final set at 3-all. Next, Flink and Doi would play a 20 point game, with Doi saving 5 game points and finally converting on her third break opportunity to ultimately win the marathon seventh game of the final set.
At this point, it seemed certain that the veteran Japanese would escape this match and enter the main draw with a win, a place that barely eluded her as she was the last one out and ended up as the #1 seed in qualifying. However, Flink somehow corrected course and broke Doi in the very next game to square the set at 4-all.
After holding serve, Varvara Flink now put Misaki Doi in the position of serving to stay in the match. This scenario seemed all but impossible an hour earlier when Flink trailed 0-6 2-5.
Putting a proper exclamation point on her comeback, Varvara Flink broke Doi at love and earned her place in the main draw at the 2016 Western & Southern Open!
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