Nuria Párrizas leaves Melbourne with her head held high

Nuria Párrizas dreamed for almost an hour about the possibility of reaching the second round of the Australian Open. The 30-year-old from Granada, who had not had to play the second round due to the resignation of her rival, the Belgian Zanevska, played probably the best tennis of her career in the first set against Jessica Pegula, a 21-year-old American and 21st in the world who was a quarter-finalist in Melbourne last year. But it escaped him in the tiebreaker and then he fell apart: 7-6 (3) and 6-2 in 1h33. The lack of experience in Grand Slams (it was the second of his career) and against top rivals, took its toll on Párrizas. Pegula will face either Kudermetova or Sakkari on Sunday.

“The first set was of a very high level and she played really well”, admitted Pegula, surprised by her rival’s aggressiveness., who dominated the game with his drive and his placement on the court. In this way he twice broke the serve of the jacket, although both times he failed to consolidate his advantage. Hence the tie-break was reached. With 3-4 in favor of Jessica, Nuria missed a shot that could change the course of the game.

Then, in the second round, the millionaire Pegula, daughter of the owners of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabers and the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, was far superior. In the end, he added more winners (20-11) and fewer unforced errors (25-27 than Párrizas, and in a long-court game, he was better on the few occasions that he played near the net (10/11 ). The Spanish leaves Oceania with her head held high and with a few positions gained in the ranking. Provisionally it is the 50thyour best position.

Australian Open women’s draw.