Daniela Hantuchova plonks Lourdes Dominguez-Lino to reach round two – Brisbane International 2013
Former world number five, Daniela Hantuchova, found some rhythm at the hard courts of Brisbane International to kick-off the new season with a victory against the 48th ranked Spaniard, Lourdes Dominguez-Lino. She took
just a fraction under an hour and a half to beat the 31-year-old opponent in straight sets 7-5, 6-2.
An unconventional beginning to the contest witnessed a swap of breakpoints just after a serve hold from the 29-year-old Slovak. Soon after a topsy turvy start from each end, both players settled down and the scores pushed on to
4-3 in favour of the Slovak.
Another trade of breakpoints assisted the scores to reach 5-5. Hantuchova held her nerves and registered a timely serve hold. However, her rival couldn’t replicate a similar control over her serve; failed to absorb the pressure
and handed over a crucial breakpoint to her rival that also proved to be the final action from the first set of the match.
The Slovak diva started the second phase of the match in aggressive fashion; darted in the serves with utmost command that helped her to clinch a serve hold to love. She carried the momentum into the second game and won a breakpoint.
The scores moved on to 2-0 at that stage.
An exchange of breakthroughs in the following two games retained the lead of Hantuchova intact. She extended the score to 4-1 with a serve hold and gobbled up another breakpoint to inch a step closer to the victory. She served
for the set in the seventh game of the second set but failed to close the encounter in that game. However, she kept her head up; mustered the ball at her will in the eighth game and clinched the breakthrough that proved to be the last action of the day for
her.
Ranked 32nd in the world at the moment, Hantuchova is aiming to break back amongst the Top-10 rankings by the end of 2013. She extended her head-to-head lead against the 48th ranked Spaniard to 6-0 with that
victory at Brisbane. She will be playing the fifth seed Sara Errani who will have to save an upset against the qualifier to confirm a date with her.
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