Aleksandra Wozniak eases through Heather Watson in the qualifiers – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Canadian tennis starlet, Aleksandra Wozniak, registered a convincing victory against the 19-year-old Briton, Heather Watson, in the opening qualifying rounds of the BNP Paribas Open on Monday. Seeded at number six in the qualifiers,
Wozniak battled out for one hour and 54 minutes to conclude the matchup in twin sets, 6-4, 6-4, booking a spot in the qualifying competition.
The Canadian is rated at number 86 in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) but she exhibited a far better game play to dispose of the talented British opponent. Wozniak beat Watson in every segment of the game and never allowed
her to get into the lead at any point of the match. The Briton had her chances in the match but she frittered them away in careless manner to remain at a disadvantage. She crafted a total of 14 break opportunities but converted just two of them, while Wozniak
nailed four out of nine break points to drive her out of the WTA Premier-Level tournament.
A fierce start to the opening set witnessed an early exchange of break points from both ends to take the scores to 2-2. Wozniak went one step further ahead and broke the Briton for the second successive time to lead 3-2. She kept
her lead in tack for the rest of the set and served out of the opener at 6-4.
The following set took off in the similar fashion as the opener did; an early trade of serve breaks from the two players to take the scores to 2-2. Things were going fine for Watson until a crucial break point conversion in the
ninth game from the Canadian sixth seed wrapped up the proceedings for her. She finished of the match up at 6-4, marching in to final round qualies in style.
Wozniak is slated to face the 16th seeded Australian, Anastasia Rodionova, in the qualifying competition on Tuesday. The Aussie starlet outplayed Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, in the first round
to book a clash with Wozniak. Both these underrated contestants will go one-on-one against each other to battle for a berth in the main rounds of the BNP Paribas Open.
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