Andrea Petkovic overpowers Yulia Putintseva in opening qualifier – BNP Paribas Open 2013
Former world number nine, Andrea Petkovic, had no trouble in clearing the opening qualifying round of BNP Paribas Open 2013 by overwhelming the sixth seeded qualifier, Yulia Putintseva, on Tuesday. The German contender took 77 minutes to settle the final score line at 6-0, 6-2, to reach the qualifying competition of the WTA Premier Mandatory event in Indian Wells, USA.
The reigning world number 177 was facing the 18-year-old Kazakh for the first time in her professional career and had no trouble at all to get under her skin. She was absolutely ballistic throughout the contest, sparing merely two games for Putintseva in the entire match. She registered a bagel in the opening set and carried on her winning impetus in the following set to register her dominating victory in style.
Petkovic broke her opponent in the second game to gain momentum in the contest. She went on for a six-game killing spree, nailing three successive breaks of serve and wrapping up the opening set at 6-0.
Putintseva managed to hold her serve for the first time in the second game of the following set. However, the unseeded German came up with two more consecutive break points to rocket away to 5-1 in no time. The sixth seeded Kazakh contender registered her lone serve break of the match in the seventh game, only to be broken in the very next game. Petkovic nailed her sixth serve break in the eighth game and concluded her victory at 6-2.
Petkovic had a formidable serve game in the matchup, reaching 70 per cent serve precision and winning 23 out of 35 first serve points. On the other hand, Putintseva’s 48 per cent accurate first serve yielded her merely 13 out of 30 points in the match. She had four break opportunities in the contest but frittered away three priceless chances before converting the lone break in the seventh game of the second set. Petkovic converted six out of 10 break points and galloped to victory comprehensively.
The German wildcard will take on the 14th seeded contestant, Monica Puig, on Wednesday to earn a berth in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open.
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