Iveta Benesova hunts down Yanina Wickmayer in the opening round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Czech veteran, Iveta Benesova, went through three taxing sets to overcome the superior ranked Belgian tennis ace, Yanina Wickmayer, in the opening round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Monday. The 51st ranked
Czech took two hours and seven minutes to hunt down the world number 34, settling the final scores at 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5), to reach the round of 32 of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier 5 event.
Being played on the outdoor clay courts of Rome, Italy, the contest witnessed some gruelling tennis between the two talented competitors. The see-saw battle kept the local crowd on the edge of their seat throughout, finishing off
in the third set tie-breaker round eventually to let Benesova through to the second round of the tournament.
It was the third battle between these two contenders, with Wickmayer winning the most recent encounter in 2008 Tokyo, Japan. It was the payback time for the Czech veteran and she broke into a 2-1 lead over Wickmayer in the all-time
head-to-head series after her Monday’s win. Benesova improved 20-10 in the running season and is working extremely hard to get into her winning groove with the clay court Grand Slam, Roland Garros French Open, to initiate at the end of this month.
The contest appeared evenly poised throughout and it wasn’t possible to predict the winner at any instance. The overall match statistics also depict the intensity of competition being witnessed between these two rivals. Benesova’s
64 per cent precise first serve earned her 45 out of 66 points in the match, whilst the Belgian bettered her by bagging 53 out of her 80 points. Both contenders registered four break points apiece in the contest and it appeared to be just a matter of time
that Benesova delivered the decisive blow in the final set tie-breaker to come out as the winner.
After the winning one set apiece, Benesova and Wickmayer entered the decisive set and the Belgian broke early to lead 3-0 right away. Benesova came from behind and nailed a crucial break point in the fifth game, then held her serve
to level the scores at 3-3. A convention game, with the two opponents holding their serves, took the set into a tie-breaker round. The ultimate decider also went to the wire but Wickmayer suffered a cracking mini-break at 4-5 and Benesova fully capitalised
on it to serve out of the match at 7-6(5), to reach the second round of the Rome Masters.
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