Eleni Daniilidou reaches the second qualifying round at the 2011 Estoril Open
Eleni Daniilidou earned a hard fought victory over Russian Alexandra Panova 7-5, 6-7 (2), 7-5 on Sunday to reach the second round at the 2011 Estoril Open qualifying round in Portugal.
The Greek tennis pro made an aggressive start to the match as she broke the serve in the very first game of the opening set. Panova displayed some good tennis as she held on to her next serve games but couldn’t stop her opponent
from earning a well deserved 1-0 set score lead.
The second set was played on a more competitive note. Both players traded serve breaks in the set as it went into a tie-breaker. Daniilidou broke the serve first with a wonderful forehand winner down the line but Panova showed
amazing temperament and determination to break back immediately. In the tie-breaker, the contestants put up a great fight however Panova clinched four straight points to force the match into the decider.
In the final set the players looked to assert dominance over one another to gain that psychological advantage in the contest. Daniilidou showed marvellous presence of mind under pressure as she played in her clever chip shots to
earn crucial points. The 28-year-old Daniilidou broke the serve in ninth game of the set and then held on to her serve games to seal the match after 3 hours and 36 minutes of play.
With her accurate serving and excellent on-court movement, Daniilidou established firm control over the contest. She made most of the opportunities presented to her as she converted nine of sixteen breaks points. Daniilidou dominated
the challenger in the serve return department as well claiming more than 48 per cent points.
Panova on the other hand failed to handle the heat and committed unforced errors at crucial situations. She had her chances to break the serve but converted only a few of them. However Panova’s serve was her real asset as she fired
6 aces on her opponent’s half of the court.
Ranked 158 in the world, Daniilidou is having a terrible time on the Women’s Tennis Association tour since the start of this season as she experienced first round losses at several WTA tournaments. Winner of five WTA titles, Daniilidou
will be hoping to put a better show here at the red clay courts in Portugal by reaching the final stages of the competition. However, consistency and self-belief are going to be the crucial factors if she wants to advance in the field full of fierce competitors.
In her next match-up at the tournament, the 28-year-old will face Chinese Shengnan Sun. Sun defeated wild card entrant Patricia Martins 6-3, 6-2.
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