Andrea Petkovic registers her first win of the tournament – Royal Indian Open 2012
Former top-tenner, Andrea Petkovic, continues struggling to get back her vintage form and has started off pretty well at the Royal Indian Open. She had to dig deep against the Georgian opponent, Sofia Shapatava, in the opening round battle on Tuesday. The 25-year-old German took two hours and 11 minutes to settle the matchup in straight sets, 7-6(4), 7-5, marching into the second round of the WTA Challenger Series event in Pune, India.
Sixth seeded Petkovic couldn’t pose best of her performances in the contest but still managed to reel off both sets after a stiff resistance from Shapatava. She was found struggling at some moments in the match but it was her opponent’s error-ridden game play which made her path easier to victory. The German veteran stood focused and played controlled strokes, enticing the Georgian competitor to commit faults on regularity. She made the most of her rival’s mistakes and sealed a hard-fought victory in the end.
Action started off right from the fourth game of the match when Shapatava nailed her first break point on lead 3-1. Petkovic retaliated immediately with a serve break, only to be broken again in the very next game. She got another crucial chance in the ninth game and she availed it perfectly to drag the set into a tie-break. The German number six seed convincingly bagged the tie-break round at 7-6(4) to get one up in the match.
The following set witnessed a total of five break points from both sides, with Shapatava securing two and Petkovic coming on top with three cracking ones. The German hot favourite broke her opponent in the 12th game of the second set to mark an end to the contest and progressed to the pre-quarter-final rounds of the Royal Indian Open tournament.
"I hadn't practiced on the centre court yet, so I was not used to the court, which is faster than the practice courts," Petkovic said. "At the start of the match I struggled to adjust and she played really well and really aggressively, putting me under a lot of pressure. Finally, I found the rhythm and did enough to get through. I am very happy to win and feel fit and healthy on the court."
The former German number one hasn’t been that much successful on her return from a prolonged injury lay-off and she needs some time to get back her winning touch. Her most recent victory has improved her winning record to 10-10 for the year and she will eye to carry on the similar sort of momentum in her upcoming matches.
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