2011 French Open: Andrea Petkovic upsets Bojana Jovanovski in the opening round
As expected, world number twelve Andrea Petkovic of Germany defeated world number 50 Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia in the first round of the French Open, being played at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The German laboured
for one hour and fifty four minutes to conclude her 6-4, 7(7)-6(3) victory in a very aggressive way.
Coming off from a fresh title victory in Strasbourg International, the 23-year-old Petkovic had a ballistic start to the opener, blowing away her opponent without much of a fight but unfortunately slumped in the second set to let
Jovanovski back in the game. Petkovic finally wrapped up an emphatic victory in the tie breaker to rout the Serbian out of the Grand Slam and moved one step closer to the finals.
The 19-year-old Jovanovski had a sloppy start, gifting the opening set to her opponent in the first 44 minutes of play. She failed to hold her serve and secured merely fourteen out of 22 on her first serve. Three double faults
were recorded from her side, assisting her German opponent to race away to 5-4. The dominating German closed out the first set with utmost ease at 6-4 in style.
However, tide turned in the very next set as the 50th-ranked Serb roared back very strongly and pushed the set into a tie-breaker. Petkovic did not lose her head and simply did what she had to do in such a difficult
situation. With a second round berth at stake, Petkovic executed her game plan to perfection and brought her entire arsenal to the table against Jovanovski. She combined her physical toughness and unique mental tenacity, and just when her Serbian opponent
would have folded under the cloud of self-doubt and uncertainty, Petkovic produced arguably the fieriest shot of the day and concluded her victory in straight sets.
Petkovic now moves on ahead to battle Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic for a spot in the third round. Petkovic has never beaten Hradecka and the Czech pro holds a comprehensive 3-0 record over Petkovic, including a win for the
Czech in two sets last year at the Fed Cup Week 1. Since then, the German pro has been sharpening her tennis skills and has won her first WTA title of the season at the Strasbourg last week. The 23-year-old Petkovic is holding all the aces at the moment and
is seemingly headed for top ten on a bullet.
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