Flavia Pennetta slaughters Petra Cetkovska to reach quarters – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Local star, Flavia Pennetta, devastated Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska with a bagel and a breadstick at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Thursday. She barely sweated to jolt down a 6-0, 6-1 victory against the 27-year-old to breeze into the final
eight at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event taking place in Italy.
With the support from the home crowd, Pennetta slew the world number 28 in their second encounter. After going on an 11-game killing spree, the Italian not only improved to a 2-0 lifetime against the Czech but also powered into the quarter-finals at this
red clay court tournament.
21st ranked Pennetta unleashed flat groundstrokes from her arsenal of skills to stroke out the opening six games in a row. The Italian dusted away both breakpoints she encountered and capitalised on three out of four break opportunities to pocket
the bagel.
The Swiss resident maintained her intensity in the proceeding set and reeled off the opening five games before Cetkovska broke back. She then broke the Czech’s serve again and pulled out the set with an assuring 6-1 success. Pennetta warded off two out of
three breakpoints she faced and cashed in four out of 10 break chances.
Summing up the Czech’s performance, Cetkovska failed to keep her single serve in this match. She manipulated a better first serve share of 75 per cent in contrast with Pennetta’s 36 per cent but saved only half of the 14 breakpoints she faced.
The blossoming local star on the other hand was praised by everyone. Her next opponent, ninth seeded Serena Williams praised Pennetta by saying, "Pennetta is playing great - I actually don't remember playing her in Miami, but I do remember the US Open. She
was playing unbelievable today - I saw some of it, I said, 'Oh my God, she's playing really well. Maybe that's why she got four wins against Venus."
The former world number one, Williams crippled the Spanish veteran, Anabel Medina Garrigues, with a superb 6-3, 6-1 score line to set-up this match. The American kept her entire serves with conviction and broke her opponent’s serve four times to advance.
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