Andrea Petkovic downs Lucie Hradecka to advance into the third round – French Open 2011
Fifteenth seeded German Andrea Petkovic warded off early resistance to dump Czech Lucie Hradecka in straight sets at 2011 Roland Garros, a major clay court tournament held in Paris, France. She registered a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory
over the 26-year-old Czech on Thursday.
Petkovic, ranked 12th in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier rankings, won for the first time in their fourth meeting against the Czech, ranked 33 places below her, at Stade Roland Garros. Hradecka hammered blistering serves
with speed of 197 KMH and posed a huge obstacle in front of German’s road to victory in the opening set. However, she lost in the tie-breaker and was exhausted in the second set to eventually exit from Paris.
The German entered the first set confidently and smoothly held her opening serve to take the lead by 1-0. She then held her remaining serves by pinging the balls expertly onto the lines.
Hradecka, on the other side of net, played with the same level and equalled the scores whenever the German took the lead. She then held her serve in the twelfth game to square the scores 6-6 and led the set to tie-breaker.
Petkovic reeled off the first four points in the tie-breaker before the Czech got on score board. She dominated throughout the tie-breaker and eventually clinched the set with a 7-6(2) win in fifty minutes.
23-year-old German carried her winning ways into the final set and got the coveted break in the very first game through a crosscourt drop shot. She maintained her consistency level throughout the set by holding on to her entire
serves.
Petkovic converted another breakpoint opportunity to her advantage in the fifth game to eventually seal the set by winning six games to two in thirty-seven minutes.
Overall, the German clobbered a much better first serve share of 80 percent as compared to Hradecka’s 61 percent and registered a spectacular 76 percent win on it. Although she hammered fewer winners i.e. eighteen to Czech’s 25,
Petkovic committed less unforced errors i.e. 15 to Hradecka’s 29 which made the difference.
In addition to this, her game near the net was awesome as she won points on eight out of nine net approaches. The German also smacked four ferocious aces and converted two out of six breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to
help win easily.
Next challenge for the German is the twenty-fourth seeded Australian Jarmila Gajdosova who dumped Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues in a similar way. The seeded Australian won the first set in tie-breaker and the second set with
a 6-4 score line.
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