Alison Van Uytvanck battles past Ksenia Pervak into the second round – Brussels Open 2012
Wild card entrant, Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, made full use of the home conditions, as she defeated Kazakh contender, Ksenia Pervak, in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round at the Brussels Open in Belgium on Monday.
Ranked 450th in the world, Uytvanck proved with her performance that organizers made the right decision to award her a wild card entry into the main draw.
Uytvanck and Pervak started by holding their serve in the first three games of the opener, taking the score to 2-1 in the former’s favour. The Belgian hit a blow to Pervak in the fourth and won her subsequent serve to attain a
4-1 advantage. Uytvanck capitalised on the lead and closed it 6-3.
The Belgian bombarded five aces on her opponent and did not commit any double fault in the first set. On the other hand, Pervak failed to hit any ace and made a couple of double faults. Uytvanck could deliver just 55 percent of
the first serves but succeeded in converting 15 of the 18 of them into points.
In the second set, Uytvanck and Pervak swapped a break of serve in the first four games and evened out the score at 2-2. The following seven went with the serves to take the score to 6-5 in the favour of Kazakh. Uytvanck faltered
under pressure when she served to stay in the set at that moment and lost it 5-7.
Pervak improved her serve in the second set, as she smacked one ace and also reduced her double fault to one. She kept her first serve percentage at 80 and claimed 22 of the 33 points on them. The Kazakh saved three of the four
break points she faced and converted two of the six she received.
Both players made a stable start in the decider, as they held their serve in the first four games, levelling the score at 2-2. Uytvanck claimed a breakthrough in the fifth and consolidated on it to move ahead 4-2. The Belgian availed
the opportunity and maintained her advantage till the end, winning it 6-4.
Uytvanck banged in three aces and 75 percent of the first deliveries, clinching 20 of the 30 points on them. The 18-year-old put away both break points she came across and utilised one of the two chances she created.
The Belgian will meet either Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa or Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.
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