Alexandra Panova downs Kathrin Woerle in qualifiers – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
Qualifying second seed, Alexandra Panova, took down the German challenger, Kathrin Woerle, in straight sets at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Sunday. She nudged up a 6-4, 7-6(2) success against the world number 204 to reach the final round of the
qualifying competition at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event held in Strasbourg.
The Russian rising star showed tremendous skills to outsmart Woerle in their first meeting. After triumphing over her rival in one hour and 56 minutes, Panova comfortably advanced into the final qualifying round at this clay court event.
Panova high-spiritedly stepped on the French dirt and drew the first blood in the fourth game to jump to a 3-1 lead. Apart from losing her edge in the very next game, the Russian continued breaking her rival’s serve until she clicked the opener with a 6-4
score line. Panova dusted away only one out of four breakpoints she faced but converted four out of six break chances to her advantage.
Ranked 77th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Panova lost her path in the second set and gifted away her opening serve to go 0-2 down. However, she made an amazing reply and not only recovered in the fourth game but broke her opponent’s serve again
to jump to a 5-3 lead. Despite losing their edge in the very next game, the Russian imposed a tie-breaker and dominated in to pocket the set with a 7-6(2) win.
All in all, the 23-year-old was broken five times but took advantage of six of the 10 break chances to steal the spotlight. She penned down a lower first serve share of 58 per cent as compared to her rival’s 65 per cent but acceptably marked 28 out of 46
points on it.
Next in line for Panova is the sixth seed, Stephanie Dubois, who dumped Panova’s compatriot, Marina Shamayko, in straight sets to set-up this meeting.
The American contender, Lauren Davis, will join the Russian in the final qualifying round. She slaughtered the local contestant, Caroline Garcia, with a breadstick in just under an hour to progress. Davis lost her serve twice but capitalised on six out of
11 break chances to register a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
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