Andrea Petkovic downs Daniela Hantuchova in the semi-final of Internationaux De Strasbourg
Sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova fell in the semi-finals of Internationaux de Strasbourg to German Andrea Petkovic in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 4-6. The German survived a mid match lapse to do away with the Pattaya City champion in a tight
baseline slugfest.
It looked like Hantuchova had lost her edge as Petkovic surged ahead 4-0 in the decider. However, Hantuchova was in no mood to go down without a fight and bounced back as she captured the next four games to tie things up again.
As the match got into a tight situation, Petkovic did not panic, rather refocused on her game, first to hold and then to break the Slovakian to take her with a game from victory. Hantuchova refused to give in though and made Petkovic work every inch for her
win, finally bowing out in two hours and forty two minutes.
The first set began with Petkovic coming out firing with all weapons in her arsenal. Hitting many winners off her powerful two-handed backhands, she broke Hantuchova serve first time around and held her own, thus going into a 4-0
lead. But unfortunately Petkovic could not gain the set points she had gained and Hantuchova converted them into her own game points, taking the set to 4-all. But the German did not panic and with the help of a well placed and well timed drop-shot she successfully
served out the first set at 6-4.
The second set began with Petkovic and Hantuchova exchanging breaks and holding serves which saw German in the lead for most of it. But it was at the 3-3 point where Hantuchova broke the Petkovic serve and brought the tight score
back into the game. Hantuchova fired 59 percent on her first serve and won 76 percent of points on them. Serving at 4-3, she converted 50 percent of breakpoints against Petkovic and clinched the second set to tie the score at one set apiece.
A possible exit for Petkovic was very possible due to an in form Hantuchova, but only for Petkovic’s fighting abilities and belief she fought back in the final set to take the victory. She played very consistently and forced Hantuchova
into many errors. Petkovic showed great signs of improvement in her game as she raised her first serve percentage to five percent. Furthermore, she converted 75 percent of breakpoints against Hantuchova and finally won the set 6-4.
Petkovic is all-set to face Marion Bartoli of France in the final of the 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg on Saturday. Marion leads their head-to-head series by 2-1 with one win coming in the 2007 French Open and the other in
Indian Wells earlier this year.
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