Alexandra Panova upsets Lucie Hradecka to enter quarters – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
Russian qualifier, Alexandra Panova, battled past the Czech contender, Lucie Hradecka, in a tipsy-turvy match at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Wednesday. She summed up a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 success against the 27-year-old to book a place in the final
eight at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International-level tournament taking place from 19th to 26th May in France.
The Russian youngster stayed on track to bid for her maiden WTA career title after triumphing over Hradecka in one hour and 38 minutes. Meeting each other for the first time, Panova not only edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the Czech but also
charged into the quarter-finals.
Panova stormed into this outdoor clay court event and drew the first blood in the second game to jump to a 2-0 lead. Apart from losing her edge in the very next game, the Russian broke Hradecka’s serve once again and extended her lead to 4-1. She then held
her remaining serves and pulled out the opener with a 6-3 score line.
The world number 60 on the other end re-focused in the following set. She swiftly swiped in her entire serves after dusting away both breakpoints she faced. Hradecka got the breakthrough in the last game after cashing in lone break opportunity and clicked
the equaliser by winning six games to four.
Ranked 77th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Panova sought her early momentum again in the final set. She broke the Czech’s serve in the opening game and after gifting away her serve in the follow-up game, the Russian capitalised on another break
chance and leaped to a 3-1 lead. She then held remaining serves and broke her rival’s serve again in the last game, subsequently pocketing the decider with a 6-3 win.
Up next for the Russian is the ultra-fit local star, Pauline Parmentier, who stunned top seeded Sabine Lisicki en route to quarters. The French overpowered her compatriot, Stephanie Foretz Gacon in three sets to set-up this duel.
"It was really tough because I played against a good friend of mine," Parmentier commented after the match. "I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and she played really aggressive in the first set. But I kept fighting until the end and it turned out
well for me."
The second seed, Francesca Schiavone, also stole the spotlight later that day. She crushed the Croatian qualifier, Mirjana Lucic, with a breadstick in an hour-long marathon.
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