Donna Vekic surprises Bojana Jovanovski in the quarters – Tashkent Open 2012
World number 183, Donna Vekic, continues to surprise her opponents at the Tashkent Open in Uzbekistan. The latest victim being the 64th ranked Serb star, Bojana Jovanovski, who lost the quarter-final contest in straight
sets with a score line of 4-6, 4-6.
The 16-year-old Croatian qualifier is the youngest player on the tour but looks set to test the top seeded players and becomes one of the strongest contenders for the title. She is already in the semi-finals of the tournament and
just two steps away from registering the most historical moment of her career.
The 20-year-old Serb who is seeded sixth in the tournament was expected to end the cameo of the four year younger Croatian player but she failed to handle the onslaught on the eve of Thursday and bowed out in just an hour and 35
minutes.
Jovanovski commenced the match with a serve hold and almost clinched the first breakpoint in the following game but couldn’t convert the golden opportunity allotted to her. Vekic took advantage of the lapse of concentration and
bagged the first breakthrough in the third game of the match. She didn’t commit mistakes like her opponent did in the subsequent game. The Croatian made no mistake in consolidating her position further with a serve hold; making it 3-1 in her favour.
Both players bagged the serve games to push the scores at 4-3. However, the most awaited breakthrough was witnessed in the eighth game of the match when the 20-year-old Serb equalized the scores at 4-4. It looked like a timely
comeback but the concentration level of the 16-year-old kid was immense. Vekic broke serve in the following game to regain the lead and squeezed a well worked out serve hold to win the opening set.
It was a terrible start for the sixth seed Serb who was looking to have a breakthrough tournament for quite a long time. Both players bagged the first two serve games to push the scores at 2-2. An exchange of breakpoints further
enhanced the scores line to 3-3 but the pivotal breakthrough came in the seventh game of the set when the Croatian qualifier won the game and took the lead. She held her serve to make 5-3.
The Serb couldn’t fight back to level the scores and lost the match. Vekic will go head-to-head against the Czech upset queen, Eva Birnerova, in a battle for the final showdown spot.
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