Chanelle Scheepers breezes past Mathilde Johansson in round one – BNP Paribas Open 2012
South African tennis star, Chanelle Scheepers, stomped over the French contender, Mathilde Johansson, in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open 2012, a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event taking place in Indian Wells, United States. She
clobbered a 6-3, 6-3 score line against the world number 105 to reach the second round on Thursday.
Scheepers dominated throughout the match to steal the spotlight in their sixth meeting. After earning success in almost one and half hour, she not only levelled the head-to-head series by 3-3 against the French but also advanced into the second round at
this hard court tournament.
Ranked 47th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Scheepers assertively entered the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. Instead of availing chances to extend her lead, she lost her following
two serves and trailed at 1-3. However, the South African sought her rhythm again and winded the following five games in a row, eventually sealing the opener with a 6-3 win.
The 27-year-old kept momentum sailing into the following set and after earning two early breaks of serve, she went 5-1 up. Despite failing to pocket the match in the seventh game, Scheepers held her serve in the ninth game and won the set with a 6-3 score
line.
Summing up Scheepers’ performance at this Californian hard court, the South African manipulated a lower first serve share but impressively marked 21 out of 35 points on it. The veteran also defended eight out of 11 breakpoints she faced and converted six
out of nine break opportunities to her advantage.
Next up for the South African challenger is the 29th seed, Kaia Kanepi, who received a bye into the second round after being a top-32 player of the tournament.
The Kazakhstani contender, Ksenia Pervak, will accompany Scheepers in the proceeding round. She trashed Belarus’ Olga Govortsova with a breadstick in their second meeting. The 20-year-old cashed in all six break chances and brushed off four out of six breakpoints
she came across to register a 6-3, 6-1 score line.
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