Tennis: Spain’s Marina Bassols wins match from 0-6, 0-5, 0-30 down
Bassols, the world No. 263, pulled off a scarcely credible comeback against Belarusian Yuliya Hatouka in qualifying for the Hungarian Open.
Marina Bassols, a Spanish tennis player currently at 263rd in the WTA rankings, seemed poised for a heavy defeat in the first round of qualifying for the Hungarian Open on Saturday.
Indeed, the Catalan looked set to lose without winning a single game against Belarus’ Yuliya Hatouka, the world No. 211. However, Bassols ended up achieving a historic comeback.
Two points off defeat at 0-6, 0-5 down
After taking the first set 6-0, Hatouka then raced into a 5-0 lead in the second - and, at 30-0 up in the sixth game, was just two points from victory. But it was then that Bassols reacted.
She fought back to hold her serve and win her first game of the match, then broke her opponent, and went on to save three match points in this set. She wound up taking seven games in a row to win the set and force a decider.
13-4 run sees Bassols complete stunning fightback
In the third set, Bassols managed to break on no fewer than four occasions, and ended up winning the set and the match. 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two and a quarter hours - a comeback for the ages.
At 0-6, 0-5 down, she went on a run of 13-4, and has now put together 11 consecutive victories. Last week, the 22-year-old won the ITF 25K in Palma de Río, her seventh title as a professional.
On Sunday, Bassols faces the Hungarian Fanny Stollar, the world number 375, for a place in the final draw of the Budapest tournament, where she aims to continue adding ranking points in order to climb positions and access US Open qualifying.