Daniela Hantuchova downs Alexandra Dulgheru in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova triumphed over 21-year-old Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru in straight sets to advance into the second round of the 2011 Porsche Tennis grand prix on Tuesday.
The former top five, Hantuchova took her revenge of her defeat at Warsaw in 2009 by dumping the Romanian in straight sets at Porsche Arena. She registered a 7-5, 6-3 win over Dulgheru in one hour and thirty-seven minutes to level
their head-to-head series by 1-1.
Ranked 36th in the WTA Premier rankings, Hantuchova had an amazing start of the season as she won the title at Pattaya after defeating eighth seeded Italian Sara Errani with a bagel following it with a quarter-final
berth at Doha.
The Slovak displayed tremendous skills in the opening set. Hantuchova held her serve in the first game through her amazing forehands and backhands from her arsenal of skills. She lost her serve early on but snatched it back in
the tenth game to level the scores at 5-5. Hantuchova then kept on track as she held her serve in the proceeding game and broke the Romanian’s serve again in the twelfth game to clinch then set with a 7-5 win.
The 27-year-old kept her momentum rolling into the second set and held her serve in the first game plausibly. Later, she held her proceeding serve but lost her serve in the fifth game to trail by 2-3. The Slovak quickly roared
back and reeled off next four games in a row to win the set with a convincing 6-3 score line.
Overall, Hantuchova outplayed her higher ranked Romanian rival as she earned an impressive 67 percent win on her first serve share and saved three out of five breakpoints she faced. The Slovak then converted four out of seven
breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to help her win the match easily.
She will next face fifth seeded Australian Samantha Stosur who downed Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez with a breadstick to reach this spot. The world number six, Stosur capitalise on four out of nine breakpoint opportunities
to clinch the match with a 7-5, 6-1 score line.
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