Aleksandra Krunic outfoxes Madalina Gojnea to enter round two – Ankara Cup 2012
Seventh seed, Aleksandra Krunic, tumbled the Romanian challenger, Madalina Gojnea, in straight sets at the Ankara Cup 2012 on Monday. She nudged up a 6-3, 7-6(1) victory against the 25-year-old to charge into the round of 16 at this ITF (International Tennis Federation) Women’s Circuit event held in Ankara, Turkey.
The seeded Serb unveiled her true colours after entering this indoor hard court tournament taking place from 17th to 23rd December. She warded off late resistance to overpower Gojnea and secure a place in the second round.
Krunic made a comfortably entry at the Ankara Tennis Club. The teenager drew the first blood in the second game and jumped to a 3-0 lead. She dropped her serve in the eighth game but stayed focused, eventually getting the breakthrough in the very next game. The Serb then kept her remaining serves with poise and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line. She brushed off three out of four breakpoints she came across and converted two out of three break opportunities to her advantage.
Ranked 171st in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Krunic carried her rhythm in the following set. She lost her serve twice early in the set and went 1-5 down. However, the Serb rebounded and eventually equalised the set in the 10th game. She exchanged another serve break before prolonging the set to a tie-breaker. Krunic went berserk in it and subsequently clicked the set with a 7-6(1) win. She blocked only two out of five breakpoints she faced but cashed three out of six break opportunities to achieve her goal.
Up next for the seed is the winner of the match between Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru and the Swiss challenger, Amra Sadikovic.
The Uzbekistani challenger, Akgul Amanmuradova, will join Krunic in the proceeding round. She bounced back to formulate a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 score line against Romania’s Cristina Dinu to advance. Amanmuradova made a drastic entry at this event. However, she re-structured and eventually pulled out the victory in almost two and half hours.
Amanmuradova will next face the conqueror of the match between Georgia’s Oksana Kalashnikova and the sixth seed, Chiara Scholl.
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