Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beats Lucie Hradecka to reach round two – Brisbane International 2013
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova cleared the first hurdle at the Brisbane International by sidelining the 46th ranked Czech star, Lucie Hradecka, on Sunday. She had to dig deep to clinch the first triumph of the new season;
won the contest 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The 36th ranked Russian registered her second head-to-head victory against the Czech star. She smashed five aces and showed no nerves at the pressure stages, clinching the breakpoints at the right time to keep the opponent
in check.
The 21-year-old Russian commenced the match with a serve hold to love and recorded another flawless serve game to make it 2-1. She lost just one point in the fifth game and reinstated the lead. The see-saw battle continued for
another couple of games before the Russian bamboozled her opponent with a fantastic drop shot to secure the first breakpoint of the match. She didn’t make any sort of mistake on her serve in the following game and bagged the opening phase of the contest with
ease.
Hradecka didn’t look comfortable at the start of the second set; allowed an early opportunity for her rival to take control but bounced back in time to save a breakpoint and register a serve hold. As the set moved ahead, the 27-year-old
Czech gained confidence and started to hit the ball at his merit.
She dismantled the concentration of her rival in the sixth game with a fantastic forehand winner down the line and coupled it with a net point to take the lead. The Czech kept the lead intact until the end and enforced the final
set into play.
Pavlyuchenkova was under the cosh in the opening phase of the final set but kept her calm to keep scores at serves. She sneaked a breakpoint in the fourth game and posted a 4-1 lead that reverted the pressure back on her rival.
Hradecka tried to win a breakthrough back in the seventh game but couldn’t connect the winner properly and just missed the sideline by a whisker.
The Russian secured the final serve game without any problem and booked a date with the seventh ranked Czech star, Petra Kvitova, for the second round face-off.
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