Luksika Bows Out of WTA 125K Series in Taiwan.
Thai No 1 Luksika Kumkhum blew away a set point before crashing out in the quarter-final match against home favourite Chang Kai-Chen 1-6 5-7 in the US$125,000 OEC Taipei WTA Ladies Open in Taiwan on Friday.
It was a disappointing loss for the Thai who beat the 154 th ranked opponent 1-6 7-5 6-1 last year in Xuzhou, China. The Thai who also reached the quarter-final last year would end this season inside the top 150 with her ranking at 145 th at the moment.
Luksika served a double fault to drop her first service game and went down 0-2 from the beginning. After losing five games in a row in just 18 minutes, Luksika finally broke the ice to put a digit on the scoreboard for the first time at 1-5. However her resistance did not last as the Thai committed two easy errors to drop the opening set in just 23 minutes.
After going down 1-2 in the second set, Luksika raised the level of game to break back for 2-2 and continued to dominate the next three games to lead 5-2 with attacking groundstrokes. Luksika had a set point in the next game but hit a backhand to the net. The Thai appeared to lose concentration from then as she made several errors to drop her next two service games and went down 5-6.
Chang held on to the lead to serve out for the match with her consistent baseline game. She won the match in one hour and 12 minutes after Luksika netted a forehand shot.
The 2016 season is almost over for Luksika. She is to compete her last event in the qualifying event for the Australian Open wildcard in China at the end of this month but it’s exclusive for only Asian players and rewards no world ranking points.
