Dinah Pfizenmaier stuns Anastasia Rodionova in the first qualifier – Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2013
World number 146, Dinah Pfizenmaier, registered an upset against the eighth seeded Aussie contender, Anastasia Rodionova, in the opening qualifying round of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The 21-year-old German youngster took merely one hour and 20 minutes and eventually concluded her victory at 6-2, 6-4, to move into the second round of the qualifying draw of this WTA tournament in Stuttgart, Germany.
Rodionova was facing the local contender for the first time in her professional career and perhaps it was the reason she was taken by surprise. The eighth seeded Australian veteran couldn’t do much against the all-round onslaught from German youngster and eventually crumbled in the second set of the match to fall out of the qualifying draw cheaply.
Pfizenmaier was off to a flyer in the contest, breaking the world number 121 in the very first game of the match and imposed a 2-0 lead up front. She played smart tennis and didn’t commit many unforced errors, unlike Rodionova, who kept on spilling lose strokes to give away easy points to her opponent. Pfizenmaier carried on with her momentum and held all her serves comprehensively. She didn’t give a single chance to the Australian to register a break point. However, she made things even worse for Rodionova when she broke her serve for the second time to lead 5-2. The German wrapped up the first set at 6-2 to get the upper hand in the contest.
The following set witnessed a steady start from both sides. Rodionova cashed in a vital opportunity in the fourth game and quickly pounced on her opponent to attain a 4-1 lead immediately. It appeared as if the eighth seed has found her winning groove but Pfizenmaier made a brilliant comeback to stun everyone. The German nailed two successive serve breaks in the seventh and the ninth games respectively and rocketed away to 5-4, serving for the match. She drew the curtains for Rodionova in the next game came out as the winner at 6-4.
Pfizenmaier will face her fellow unseeded compatriot, Kathrin Woerle-Scheller, in the second round of the qualifying draw on Sunday.
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