Aleksandra Wozniak topples Galina Voskoboeva in the opening round clash – AEGON International 2012
Unseeded in the tournament draw, Canadian tennis ace, Aleksandra Wozniak, had to go through a gruelling three-set battle before hunting down the 54th ranked Kazakh opponent, Galina Voskoboeva, in the opening round of the AEGON International on Monday. The world number 56 laboured extremely hard for two hours and 22 minutes before settling the final scores at 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5), in her favour.
Both unseeded contenders exhibited a high quality performance to entertain the local crowd at Eastbourne, United Kingdom. The contest remained electrified until the last minute of play and it was extremely difficult to predict the winner during the match. A number of momentum swings were witnessed in the game and the 24-year-old Canadian finally came out victorious from the see-saw battle.
Wozniak last defeated the Kazakh contender, 6-2, 6-2, at 2010 Brisbane International but it took a huge toll out of her on Monday to sustain her clean sheet against Voskoboeva. The Canadian now leads 3-0 in the head-to-head series against her rival and is bidding for her maiden title this season in Eastbourne.
The Canadian’s 61 per cent precise first serve yielded her 48 out of 70 points, with Voskoboeva following her closely at 45 out of her 72. Wozniak converted four out of 10 break points she crafted in the contest, whilst her opponent squandered away eight priceless break opportunities and nailed merely three to finish on the losing side in the end.
A conventional start in the first set of the match saw both players holding their serves in the opening six games before any drama happened. Wozniak drew first blood in the seventh game and then stung her second successive break point in the ninth game to seal the opening set at 6-3.
Voskoboeva finally got involved in the action when she registered her first break point of the day to lead 4-2 in the second set. She kept her lead intact and bagged the second set at 6-4 to bring the contest back on even terms.
Two break points apiece in the final set dragged the scores to 6-6 and it all came down to the tie-breaker round. The ultimate decider also went to the wire, reaching 5-5 but an all-important mini-break proved lethal for Voskoboeva, as Wozniak concluded her emphatic victory at 7-6(5).
The Canadian will either face off against the fourth seeded French powerhouse, Marion Bartoli or the unseeded Romanian, Sorana Cirstea, in the second round of the tournament.
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