Daniela Hantuchova, Vera Dushevina rally past their opponents at Qatar Ladies Open
Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova made an epic comeback from one set down to upset 6th seeded Belarusian Vicktoria Azarenka by 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday.
Both players displayed an awe-inspiring game of tennis in the opening set. Hantuchova made a great start as she held her serve in the first game. The Belarusian quickly counterattacked and held her serve as well. Later both showed
their class and with exchange of two breaks, Azarenka levelled the score 4-4. She then clinched the set by winning the next two games including another win from the break points. Although the Slovakian hammered four aces, Azarenka outshined her. She had a
much higher first serve percentage of 74 percent as compared to Hantuchova’s 54 percent. However, she produced an acceptable 54 percent win on it.
The frustrated Slovakian got on fire right from the beginning of the second set. She went on to win the first three games in a row. Azarenka finally held her serve in the fourth game and put herself on the board. But the raging
Hantuchova unleashed herself again and won the next three games. Although her first serve percentage of 57 percent was lower compared to world number 9, Azarenka’s 79 percent. But she earned an astonishing 71 percent win on it.
Azarenka seemed to re-form herself in the final set as she amazingly won the first two games including one with the break points. But the Slovakian made a mind-blowing comeback as she released her flurry of groundstrokes to win
the next 6 games in a row. She got a lower first serve percentage but her return point winning percentage of 62 percent was much better compared to Belarusian’s 41 percent.
Ranked 30th in the world, Hantuchova had won 6 out of her last 10 matches. She recently claimed her first WTA title in three years at Pattaya after defeating 8th seeded Italian Sara Errani with a bagel. Although
she was ousted in the first round at Dubai, she entered this tournament confidently.
Hantuchova will be facing Russian Vera Dushevina in the next round. The world number 56, Dushevina overpowered Spanish Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in three sets of 4-6, 6-1, 7-6.
The Russian had a 60 percent winning record for her last ten matches. Although she lost in the first rounds at Paris and Dubai, she reached this spot through the qualifiers where she even overpowered the 2nd seed, Czech
Republic’s Klara Zakopalova.
Both players made the first set spectacular through their amazing skills. But Sanchez edged the Russian with the single break she earned in the seventh game. Although she had a lower first serve percentage of 53 percent compared
to Dushevina’s 59 percent. However she registered an impressive 82 percent win on it.
The Russian got back to her in the second set where Sanchez was only able to win a single game. Dushevina through her stunning skills and abilities won six games to clinch this set with score line of 6-1.
In the final set, the Spaniard re-formed herself. Thus both players played with their best form in this set. They had almost equal first serve percentage and exchanged breaks twice to lead the match to tie-breaker. But Dushevina
clearly prevailed in it and won the match.
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