Carolina Marín is not going through a good time. It became clear a few weeks ago in Canada, a super 100 tournament (of a very low category, where the best in the world were not) in which she did not reach the final, and she has just confirmed it now at the Danish Open (super 750, one of the greats of the World Tour). The woman from Huelva said goodbye in the second round by losing against the odds against the Chinese Han Yue, 22 years old and 19 in the world, by 15-21 and 20-22 in 46 minutes.
Next week you will have a new opportunity to close the year with a good taste in your mouth; She plays the French Open (also super 750, with the best in the world), where she will have to improve her game if she wants to have a chance of victory and go back to being what she was.
Carolina had a hard time getting into the match and that circumstance was key in the first round; more due to his own mistakes than to the successes of others, he saw himself with a 1-6 as soon as the duel began. The former number one in the world seemed inaccurate and Han Yue had enough to look for the exchange of blows until the error of the Spanish (3-9) arrived, reaching the intermission with the first set very uphill for the Huelva ( 5-11).
The break did not sit well with the tournament’s No. 4 seed, who saw how the blows went away again and again (6-14). With the set practically lost, he began to show signs of his quality and a 4-0 run left a door to hope open (10-14).
From then on came moments of equality that benefited the Asian’s interests (13-17), with Han Yue closing the first round in her favor 15-21 in 17 minutes. “Trust that you won’t fail so much from now on,” his coach tells him during the short break.
Carolina Marín could not afford to start the second set as she did in the first, and from the start she played more aggressively, more concentration, now surpassing a rival that no longer has the ‘gifts’ from Carolina (6-2). When it was easier for her, she let the Chinese midfielder take the initiative, go on the attack, and five practically consecutive unforced errors turned the score around (10-11).
The match is even (12-13) and Carolina already plays without a net, no more mistakes can be allowed. Each point starts to be gold (18-18) and you reach one of those equal finals that the Huelva-born usually wins… yes it’s fine, but it’s not. In the moment of truth Carolina takes the lead (19-18), the Chinese responds and has a match point (19-20) that she does not take advantage of. The woman from Huelva saves the first compromising situation, but not the second, losing 20-22 and thus saying goodbye with a bitter taste in her mouth to Denmark, a country that brings back very good memories (she won her first World Cup there in 2014 and her first European in 2017), but where he has confirmed that he still has to improve to be among the best again.
