Bianca Botto shocks Julia Cohen to reach the quarters – Copa Providencia BCI 2011
Peruvian Bianca Botto surprised everyone after stunning the top seeded American Julia Cohen at the Copa Providencia 2011, an ITF event taking place on the clay courts in Santiago, Chile. She battled past the American to register
a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over the 22-year-old American and secured a quarter-final place on Wednesday.
The high spirited Botto upset the American, who came from winning a title at Buenos Aires, in a three setter mouth watering match on their first meeting. After overpowering Cohen, ranked 137 places above her in the rankings, the
Peruvian stayed on course for her second year-to-date title.
Ranked 319th in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier Rankings, Botto entered the Chilean courts confidently and quickly swiped in the opening three games. She then held her remaining serves through blistering forehands from
her arsenal of skills and clinched the opener with a 6-3 win.
The in-form American turned the tables around in the second set as she re-ignited her spark and got the desiderated break in the opening game. Regardless of losing her edge in the fourth game, she broke Botto’s serve again in the
end and pocketed the equaliser by winning six games to four.
The Peruvian lifter her game in the final set again and after breaking Cohen’s serve twice, she sealed the decider with a 6-2 success.
Botto converted four out of many breakpoint opportunities to her advantage and showed solid defensive skills in the match. She committed less double faults and capitalised on the several unforced errors Cohen spilled.
The highest ranked player, Cohen was bidding for her third year-to-date title. She triumphed at Yerevan and Buenos Aires ITF events and made a final showing at Rosario and Bangkok ITF events before entering this tournament. The
American also reached the last four at Tbilisi ITF and made it into the quarter-finals at several occasions.
Next up for the Peruvian is the Argentinean Mailen Auroux who crushed Dutch qualifier Angelique van der Meet with a breadstick to reach this spot.
Second seeded Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg faced a better fate as compared to the top seed. She eased through Brazilian Maria Fernanda Alves with a breadstick to reach this spot.
Meeting for the third time, Royg took almost an hour to maintain her winning record against the Brazilian and set-up a date with Argentina’s Maria Irigoyen. The Argentinean dumped American qualifier Chieh-yu Hsu in straight sets
to reach this spot.
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