Akgul Amanmuradova edges past Katalin Marosi in final qualies – Budapest Grand Prix 2012
Third seed qualifier, Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, had to go through real tough channels in the qualifying competition of the Budapest Grand Prix but she eventually took down Katalin Marosi to reach the main rounds of the
tournament on Sunday. The Uzbek battled for two hours and 11 minutes before sealing victory at 6-1, 1-6, 7-6(4), booking a berth in the main rounds of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event being held in Budapest, Hungary.
The enthralling contest provided sheer entertainment to the local crowd and a number of major momentum swings were witnessed. The opening set was completely dominated by Amanmuradova, who came out firing right from the beginning
and captured the opener with a breadstick. She had a taste of her own medicine in the very next set when Marosi went berserk at her. The unseeded local competitor cruised through the second set with the similar scores to her opponent’s first set triumph and
levelled the matchup at 1-1. With the contest evenly poised and both players winning one set apiece, the decider was bound to be a nail-biter and it actually proved to be one. Intense tennis was seen between the two contenders but Amanmuradova finally got
the better of her opponent in the tie-breaker round to come out as the winner.
Amanmuradova has already beaten Marosi last year in Limoges, France but she had to work out way to harder on Sunday to claim victory. The overall match statistics didn’t show much difference between the two players but it was the
amazing point-winning proficiency of the third seed Uzbek which sailed her to victory in style. Both players clinched 39 first serve points and registered four serve breaks apiece in the matchup. Even the total 184 points being played in the match were equally
split between the two thrilling performers, as they won 92 point each.
Third seed Amanmuradova stamped her authority over the game early in the opening set, nailing two successive break points to race away to 5-0 in no time. She then her remaining serves to take the opener 6-1 but was stunned by a
cracking comeback from Marosi in the following set. The Hungarian broke her serve two out of five times to register a breadstick and dragged the match into a decisive third set.
After the scores were deadlocked at 6-6 in the decider, a tie-breaker round came into play and Amanmuradova manoeuvred her way to victory at 7-6(4). She will face the unseeded Dutch contender, Michaella Krajicek, in the first round
of the main draws later this week.
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