Anne Keothavong crushes Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round – PTT Pattaya Open 2012
British veteran, Anne Keothavong, surprised everyone after dumping the second seed, Dominika Cibulkova, with a breadstick at the PTT Pattaya Open 2012 on Tuesday. She clobbered a 6-4, 6-1 success against the world number 16 to book a spot in the second round
at this WTA International event held in Pattaya City, Thailand.
Keothavong stayed on course to bid her maiden WTA title at the Dusit Thani Hotel after upsetting the Slovakian seed in their second outing. She not only extended her lead in the head-to-head series by 2-0 against Cibulkova but also advanced into the round
of 16.
"I didn't have too many expectations going in to today's match as I felt a little under-cooked having only arrived yesterday from Fed Cup in Israel but I surprised myself," the delighted British said after the match. "The courts are super fast here and it's
hot and humid. Cibulkova only arrived yesterday too but I think the courts favoured my game more and I was quicker to adjust."
The 28-year-old stormed into the opening set and drew the first blood in the opening game. She then fired exquisite forehands and backhands from her arsenal of skills to keep her entire serves, eventually clinching the set with a 6-4 score line. The British
took full advantage of the several unforced errors and four double faults the Slovak spilled. She also sought six break opportunities and required conversion of one to her advantage to bag the opener.
Ranked 88th in the WTA rankings, Keothavong kept momentum rolling into the following set and earned the desiderated break in the opening game. Apart from losing her edge in the very next game, the British unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to wipe
out the following five games successively. She lost her serve once but converted four out of five break opportunities to her advantage, subsequently finishing the set with an assuring 6-1 win.
Next challenge for the British is the Indian icon, Sania Mirza, who bounced from a set down to outclass Japan’s Ayumi Morita, ultimately setting-up this clash.
Fifth seed, China’s Jie Zheng, faced a similar fate. She will join Cibulkova towards the exit doors after displaying dismal performance against the Taiwanese contestant, Su-Wei Hsieh. The fifth seed capitalised on two out of three break opportunities to
her advantage but brushed off only five out of 10 breakpoints she came across, eventually suffering a 3-6, 2-6 loss in their first meeting.
As a result, Hsieh moved into the second round where she will confront Kimiko Date-Krumm.
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