Gail Brodsky, Kateryna Bondarenko through to the qualies final at 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg
Gail Brodsky of United States defeated Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 7-6 (5) on Sunday to make it to the final qualifying round of 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg in France.
The American made a rocky start to the contest. She over hit her forehand and backhand on a number of occasions. Her opponent grabbed opportunities with both hands and made Brodsky pay heavily for her mistakes. Brodsky took her time to settle down and then displayed some high quality tennis to break the serve in seventh game of the set. The 19-year-old held on to her serve games quite comfortably to take the set score lead 1-0.
The second set also followed a similar trend. Both players put up a great fight as some competitive tennis was witnessed. Mladenovic showed amazing character and temperament as she broke the serve twice in the set to take significant 5-2 lead in the set.
However, the American refused her entry into the match as she made a double serve break to level the game score and force the set into tie-breaker. Brodsky continued to play her natural game freely and completely outclassed the challenger in the tie-breaker as she sealed the match in straight sets 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Brodsky made most of the chances that came her way and converted five out nine break chances during the match. She smashed her wonderful forehand and backhand winners all over the court and dominated the challenger in almost all aspects of the game.
Mladenovic, on the other hand, struggled to execute her shots and wasted several break chances. She failed to handle the pressure in the opener and committed a large number of unforced errors. Her defensive strategy forced her right back to the baseline from where she had very few answers.
Brodsky will take on Croat Mirjana Lucic in her next match-up at the Women’s Tennis Association event. Lucic eased past Australian Jessica Moore 6-2, 6-2 to book her place in the last round of red clay courts tournament.
In another match fourth seed Kateryna Bondarenko destroyed French Victoria Muntean of France 6-0, 6-0 in a completely one sided contest to move ahead at the qualification round.
Bondarenko looked to attack her opponent right from the start and did not allow her to breath until the contest ended. She broke the serve at regular intervals and made Muntean’s game play look completely ineffective. Her next round opponent will be another Frenchwoman Stephanie Foretz Gacon who thrashed out Australian Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-1 to reach that far. The Ukrainian will be hoping to achieve similar results in her next match-up to qualify for the main draw.
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