Anastasia Rodionova bows to Madison Keys in the final qualifying round – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Aussie tennis professional, Anastasia Rodionova, was the victim of the major upset in Miami on Tuesday when the 17-years-old American, ripped her apart in a breathtaking three-setter. With 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph, the 275th
ranked local marches into the main round of the Sony Ericsson Open.
The first head-to-head battle proved miserable for the Aussie who must have never thought of falling over to a teenager. The 99th ranked Aussie was extremely disappointed at her performance in the match and the shake
of the head at the end showed her discomfort at such an embarrassing defeat.
It was a poor start for the local teen. She dropped the first serve game to gift a lead to her rival. She went down 4-1 at the end of the five games courtesy to another breakpoint for her rival. It was getting pretty ominous for
the teen; was in no condition to reply the onslaught of her opponent.
She wasn’t able to win a single breakpoint throughout the set, despite creating five opportunities; lost the opening set that also eased the pressure on the visitor. Trailing one set down, Keys looked a bit itchy but seemed confident
about a comeback. The odds were pretty low for her majestic comeback but upsets happen.
Keys commenced the second set in dramatic fashion; broke serve twice on the trot to take a lead of 4-0 that proved a bit too much for the Aussie player to recover. Rodionova was powered down 5-0 before she could bag a consolation
game to her name. Spectators were brought back to life and they started roaring the name of Keys; praised every point she won.
The final set started in dismal fashion for the local. Her serve was broken in the fourth game of the set but a sudden outbreak won her a break back in the following game. Scores progressed to 3-3 in the meantime.
To the surprise of everyone, 17-years-old American won a classic breakthrough in the eighth game to take a lead that was kept intact until the end of the set. With this triumph, she has booked a date with Magdalena Rybarikova of
Slovakia.
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