Couts and Voskoboeva Rumble In The Bronx

BRONX--The match up of 90th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva and 312th-ranked Kimberly Couts did not look to be a close one on paper.  Voskoboeva travels the globe on the WTA tour, and has taken a set off of Maria Sharapova in Doha, whereas Couts plays North American challengers almost exclusively.

Nor did it look like it would be a close match in the early going.  Voskoboeva got off to a 4-0 lead, and held on to win the first set 6-1.  Voskoboeva crushed the ball off of her forehand side time and time again, hitting winners and drawing numerous forced errors off the Couts racquet.

But despite the lopsided early going, Couts hung tough and cut down on her unforced errors, reeling off four games in a row to close out the set 6-3 and send the match to a decider.

"In the second set I lost a little concentration," said Voskoboeva.  "I had many chances which I lost."

The final set started routinely enough, with each player holding twice to bring the score to 2-2.  But from there it went haywire, with the next eight games all ending in breaks.  Both players screamed in frustration after losing points on serve, with Voskoboeva twice melodramatically collapsing to the ground after being broken.

"It was a very nervous match," Voskoboeva admitted.

"I don't know why it happened!" "In the beginning I had a good serve, and"It's really frustrating, because I'm sure we both felt like 'hey, we can hold serve!'" Couts said of the third set break-fest.

Disgusted with her charge's play, Voskoboeva's coach Tatiana Naumko stormed off the court after Voskoboeva was broken for 6-5.

"I left because she did mistakes," Naumko said after the match.  "We work for this.  It's getting better, but in the end she got nervous, and I was disappointed."

"When I left, I knew it would get better."

"I saw that she left, and I knew that I was playing wrong, but what could I do?" Voskoboeva laughed.  "I had to keep playing."

The tactic might have worked.  Voskoboeva broke to send the set to a deciding tiebreak.  Voskoboeva raced out to a 4-0 lead, but Couts answered with four points of her own to level the tiebreak at 4-4.  Voskoboeva stayed calm, and won three of the last four points to win the match, ending it on an ace (a call Couts protested vocally and by throwing her racquet to the ground).

Despite the difficult loss, Couts appeared remarkably composed after the match, able to keep the match in perspective only a few minutes later.

"She's a great player. she's top 100, and she's there for a reason." Couts said of Voskoboeva afterwards.  "Coming close to beating somebody like that is nothing but a confidence booster." 

"But of course, in the immediate right now, I'm really disappointed."