Ekaterina Makarova cripples Polona Hercog to reach second round – Korea Open 2012
Eighth seed, Ekaterina Makarova, devastated the Slovenian challenger, Polona Hercog, with a breadstick at the KDB Korea Open Tennis Championship 2012 on Tuesday. She nudged up a 6-4, 6-1 victory against the 21-year-old to power into the round of 16 at this
WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event taking place in Seoul, South Korea.
The seeded Russian unleashed her true form to prevail over Hercog in their second outing. After bagging the match in one hour and 35 minutes, Makarova improved to a 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series against the Slovene and progressed into the second
round at this outdoor hard court event.
Makarova comfortably entered the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. She smoothly swiped her entire serves after brushing off both breakpoints she faced. The Russian capitalised on a one out of five break chances in the ninth game and clicked the opener with
a 6-4 win.
Ranked 28th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Makarova lifted her game in the following set. She cruised to a 3-0 lead with a break of serve. After Hercog came on the score sheet in the fourth game, the Russian pocketed the last three games and clinched
the set with a breadstick. She amazingly warded off all three breakpoints she faced and cashed in two out of five break chances to steal the show.
The 24-year-old clobbered a better first serve share of 69 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 62 per cent and impressively availed 30 out of 37 points on it. She spilled no double faults and ended the match with 70 points.
Next up for Makarova is the winner of the match between Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi and the American qualifier, Jamie Hampton.
The seventh seed, Klara Zakopalova, will join Makarova in the next round. She summed up a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(1) victory against Spain’s Gabrine Muguruza in almost two hours to progress.
The Czech veteran lost her serve eight times but capitalised on eight out of 12 break chances to dominate. She also spilled fewer double faults and superbly marked 30 out of 48 points on her first serve share.
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