Cibulkova/Husarova rallies past Grandin/Uhlirova to reach round two – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Slovakian wild card entrants, Dominika Cibulkova and Janette Husarova, downed the South African-Czech pair, in a three-set thriller at the Mutua Madrid Open 2012 on Monday. They summed up a 6-3, 6-7(6), 10-7 score line against their opponents to progress
into the second round at this blue clay court event taking place in Madrid, Spain.
The wild cards stayed focused throughout the match to overpower their rivals in their first meeting. After outshining Grandin and Uhlirova in one hour and 49 minutes, the Slovakians assertively entered the pre-quarter round at Park Manzanares.
Cibulkova and Husarova high-spiritedly entered this WTA Premier Mandatory event and drew the first blood in the second game to jump to a 2-0 lead. Apart from losing their edge in the very next game, the Slovaks remained on the right track and pulled out
the opener with a 6-3 win after capitalising on another break opportunity in the sixth game.
The South African-Czech re-structured their strategy in the proceeding set. They earned the coveted break in the second game and took a 2-0 lead. They gifted away their serve in the very next game but broke their rivals’ serve again in the third game, eventually
leaping to a 4-1 lead. Despite losing their serve twice after that, Grandin and Uhlirova not only recovered in the last game but prevailed in the tie-breaker to bag the equaliser with a 7-6(6) score line.
The high flying Slovaks re-gained their early ascendancy in the super tie-breaker. They jumped to an 8-4 lead before pocketing the decider with a 10-7 score line.
All in all, the wild cards coughed five double faults and produced a slightly lower first serve share of 66 per cent as opposed to their opponents’ 68 per cent. However, they exceptionally clicked 29 out of 52 points on it. They also warded off eight out
of 12 breakpoints they came across and cashed in half of the 10 break chances to earn the fame.
Next challenge for the Slovaks is the top seeded American duo, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, who received a first round bye after being a top four seeded team at this event.
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