Aleksandra Wozniak strains past Nastassja Burnett to reach the main draw – Rome Masters 2012
Seeded at number three in the tournament draw, the Canadian tennis ace, Aleksandra Wozniak, labours through the Italian wildcard entrant, Nastassja Burnett, in the final round qualifiers on Sunday. The world number 53 laboured in three gruelling sets to book a spot in the main rounds of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, settling the final score line at 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4.
The 20-year-old Italian hung in the competition for two hours and 38 minutes before crashing out of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier 5 event being held in Rome, Italy. Burnett posed a solid resistance in the early parts of the match but gradually lost her steam in the later parts to lose the contest. She dragged the opening set in the tie-breaker round but couldn’t deliver the final blow, submitting the set to her Canadian opponent. The Italian wildcard finally clinched the following set to make a mark in the contest but couldn’t withstand the Canadian onslaught in the final set. Wozniak cruised through the third set with authority to seal a much needed victory in style.
The overall match statistics were quite dramatic and depict a close encounter between the two players. The third seed Canadian delivered just 58 per cent of her first serve on target and coughed eight double faults in the match. She secured 35 out of 64 first serve points and converted eight out of 12 break points en route to victory. On the other hand, Burnett’s 70 per cent precise first serve earned her 40 out of 73 points and she also registered eight out of 11 break points in the contest. The total 215 points being played in the match were split between Wozniak and Burnett in the ratio of 110:105 respectively.
It appears to be just a matter of time that Wozniak came out as the winner despite of a solid performance from the Italian opponent. The Canadian kept winning the most crucial points throughout the competition, whilst Burnett frittered away some critical opportunities to finish on the losing side in the end.
Wozniak will take off her main draw campaign against the unseeded German tennis diva, Julia Goerges, in the opening round later this week. The World number one, Victoria Azarenka is leading the star-studded field in Rome, with the top eight seeds getting a bye to have a direct access to the second round of the coveted clay court tournament.
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