Eleni Daniilidou clouts Monica Puig to qualify for the main rounds – BNP Paribas Open 2012
World number 66, Eleni Daniilidou, stomped over the 201st ranked opponent of Puerto Rico, Monica Puig, in the second qualifying round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday. The match lasted for almost a couple of hours
before the Grecian gobbled up the win in straight sets 7-6(1), 6-1.
Puig, just 18-years-old, started the match in a dismal fashion; lost the opening serve game and went 2-0 down in a short span of time. She did well to stay in the contest by not falling over in the following serve games kept on
fighting until the scores tickled past 4-3 in favour of the Grecian.
Daniilidou served the eighth game of the set and unfortunately fell over on a breakpoint that gifted the game to her opponent; levelling the scores at 4-4. Unsurprisingly she fought back to win the breakthrough in the following
game and regained the lead.
A sudden outbreak from the Puerto Rico’s contestant once again diminished the trail and tied the scores at 5-5. It was such an enthralling contest and crowd loved every bit of it. No drama was witnessed in the following two games
and the scoreboard rendered a tie-breaker round into the play.
In the tie-breaker, Daniilidou stayed focused and played the points normally whilst her opponent couldn’t absorb the pressure. An early mini-break for the Grecian set the tone for her and she didn’t look back winning points after
another to finish the set on a high-note.
After losing the opening set, Puig was a bit disheartened and started the second set in terrible fashion. Low on confidence, Puig lost a serve game and trailed 0-3 at the start of the set. It was getting pretty ominous for her
and she was not trying hard enough to win the break back and level the scores. Scores progressed to 4-1 with the Grecian veteran in command of the proceedings and getting ready to punch an onslaught in the following game.
Daniilidou crashed the teen in the sixth game and won another breakpoint that pulled curtains for the player from Puerto Rico. It had been a tough day for Puig considering the fact that she was so close on pulling up an upset in
the opening set.
On the other hand, the Grecian did well to keep her opponent away from any early lead and booked a spot in the main round of the tournament. She will take on the Swedish participant, Sofia Arvidsson, in the first round of the tournament.
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