Arantxa Para Santonja edges past Andrea Petkovic in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open
Another surprising result for the tennis fans, as the 70th ranked Arantxa Para Santonja of Spain took down the world number 15, Andrea Petkovic of Germany in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open. In the Monday’s
clash at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain, Santonja took down the 13th seed German in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(5), in one hour and fifty five minutes.
Santonja’s sixth victory of the running year sends him in the third round of the $4,500,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) World Tour 1000 tournament. The Spanish wildcard had already jolted the tennis fans on Sunday when she
outplayed the world number 20, Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the first round matchup. She continued her winning momentum in the contest against Petkovic as well and closed the match in the second set tie breaker.
“I’ve worked hard mentally,” the Spaniard said after her victory, “I was trying to be optimistic and thought I could do it. I’m so happy. I hope I can continue like this.”
The 23-year-old German had a terrible start to the contest, dropping the opener very early but competed well to drag the second set to the tie breaker round. However, the Spanish opponent proved too good for Petkovic, who was outdone
in the tie breaker to end her voyage at Madrid.
Despite of a par serve of 56 per cent, Santonja suffered just four serve breaks from her opponent, while cracking six of 16 break points to the German. The Spaniard had plenty of opportunities in the contest but she converted just
few of them en route to victory. Santonja had a blistering start to the opener, beginning with an early break point. Her aggression was equally met by Petkovic, who clouted an immediate serve break, only to be broken in the very next game.
A flurry of break points was witnessed in the opener before the fourth serve break from Santonja closed the set at 6-2. Petkovic regrouped in the following set and gave limited chances to her opponent to take the better of her.
She cracked two breaks and was in commanding positions at times in the second set. The determinant Spaniard exhibited her magnificent tennis skills to battle back from deficits of 4-2 and then 5-3 to drive the second set into a tie breaker round. She finished
off the contest in style in the tie breaker and booked a dated with world number five, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the third round clash. Azarenka was successful against the Swede qualifier, Sofia Arvidsson in straight sets 6-1, 6-1, in the second round
of the Mutua Madrid Open.
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