Akgul Amanmuradova upsets Dominika Cibulkova to reach round two - Porsche Tennis Grand 2012
Uzbek lucky loser, Akgul Amanmuradova, took full advantage of the opportunity provided to her and thumped down the 16th ranked Slovak, Dominika Cibulkova, in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand on Wednesday.
She stayed focused and survived the three-setter 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to register a win in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 116th ranked Uzbek replaced one of the hottest tennis stars from Slovakia, Daniela Hantuchova, in the draw. The Slovak tennis ace pulled out of the event at the last moment due to the right foot injury that she incurred
in the Federation Cup match in the last week.
A stunning start for the Uzbek witnessed two back-to-back breakthroughs for her that registered a thumping score line of 4-0. She didn’t come under any sort of pressure and played with a free mind that helped her to power down
the Slovak in the opening set. Cibulkova couldn’t create a single opportunity to break serve and lost the opening set with a difference of four games and 13 points.
Despite losing the opening set in the most dismal fashion, the Slovak bounced back on the Uzbek lucky loser with an early breakthrough in the second set. However, she couldn’t hold on to it for long and lost a breakpoint in the
eighth game of the set that tie the scores at 4-4.
A gruelling battle continued for two more games before the Slovak reclaimed the lead with a cracking winner down the line. This time she didn’t make any sort of mistake and clasped the set with a minor lead of just four points
in the end.
Stage was set for a final clash between the two professionals. However, the Uzbek starlet took the most advantage of the pressure she had exerted throughout the game. Cibulkova lost the serve game in the early stages of the set
and went down to trail of 4-1. She recovered back with a breakpoint and diminished the trail to 3-4 but her opponent was smart enough to bag another breakpoint and extend the lead to 5-3.
Amanmuradova just needed to hold serve in the ninth game and register a massive upset of the tournament. She did exactly that with a couple of aces at the end to put a cherry on the top. She converted all three allotted opportunities
to break serve whilst her opponent could just grab one of her last five.
The Uzbek will take on the eighth seed Chinese, Li Na, in the second round clash.
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