Daniela Hantuchova and Alexandra Dulgheru cruise into the third round of 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
World number 30 Daniela Hantuchova secured a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win against Melanie Oudin of United States on Thursday to reach the third round at 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in United States.
The Slovakian tennis-pro looked in commanding touch in her second round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami. She broke the serve early on in the first set to put pressure on her opponent. Hantuchova held on to her serve
games and then made another serve break in the sixth game to take the first set 6-1.
The second set followed a similar pattern as well. Hantuchova made the most of her opponent’s inability to return the serve accurately as she smashed forehands and backhands wide of the challenger to win crucial points. She converted
one of the match points to complete a comprehensive victory over the American.
Seeded 29th at the tournament, Hantuchova, timed the tennis ball extremely well and displayed some high quality tennis. Her serve was on target and played a definite role in deciding the outcome of the contest. The 27
year old committed a very few unforced errors in the match which allowed her to play her natural game with freedom. In addition she was brilliant in the crucial serve return department converting a good percentage of the points on return. Melanie Oudin on
the other hand, was disappointed with her effort after doing so well in her previous match against German Julia Goerges.
The running season has proved to be mixed bag of highs and lows for Hantuchova. She fell in the first round of Sydney and Australian Open earlier this year but came back strongly by winning her fourth Women’s Tennis Association
title at Pattaya City. She then reached the quarterfinals of Qatar Ladies Open in Doha defeating number 6 seed Azarenka. However, just over a week ago she fell in the second round of Indian Wells to Safina. The Slovak must bring solidity and consistency to
her game if she wants to stand a chance against the world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki in her next match. Wozniacki made quick work of Mattek-Sands in her opening match.
In another match 26 seed Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania eased past South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-3, 6-2 to set up a meeting with Swede Johanna Larsson in the third round of WTA tournament.
Dulgheru started off aggressively and then tested her opponent’s technique and skills with her strong ground play. She took the first set 6-3 with a serve break and then made two more serve breaks in the second set to seal the
match in just over an hour.
The Romanian has had a tough time on the tour lately. She will be hoping to up her game and correct the errors ahead of her tough match-up against Larsson.
Tags: