Irina-Camelia Begu hits back at Lucie Hradecka in the opening round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Romanian starlet, Irina-Camelia Begu, made an epic comeback to outsmart the Czech tennis star, Lucie Hradecka, in a three set nail-biter at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Thursday. She formulated a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 success against the 26-year-old to book a spot
in the second round at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Begu sought her momentum after the opening set and after breaking the Czech’s serve four times, she pocketed the match in two hours and 20-minutes. Facing each other for the first time, the Romanian not only edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against
the world number 61 but also inched closer towards her maiden career title.
The Czech entered this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event with conviction and after cashing in the only break opportunity, she bagged the opener with a 6-4 win. Hradecka warded off both breakpoints she encountered and regardless of
producing a poor first serve share, the Czech spectacularly marked nine out of 10 points on it.
Ranked 46th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Begu re-focused her strategy in the proceeding set. The Romanian blocked four out of five breakpoints she faced and capitalised on two out of seven break chances, ultimately pulling out the equaliser by
winning seven games to five.
The 21-year-old perfected her game in the final set. Begu fended off the lone breakpoint she faced and broke Hradecka’s serve twice to clinch the decider with a 6-2 score line.
Overall, Begu found 16 break opportunities and fired seven massive aces. In the end, she capped the match by clicking 103 points in contrast with the Czech’s 93.
Next in line for Begu is the 20th seed, Maria Kirilenko of Russia. The Russian is in great run of form and reached this spot after receiving a first round bye.
Gisela Dulko will join the Romanian in the follow-up round. She registered a 1-0 retirement victory over the Australian starlet, Jelena Dokic, who was forced to retire after the first game. The Argentinean ace broke Dokic’s serve in the opening game before
Dokic was forced to retire after enduring severe pain.
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