Jelena Dokic defeats Simona Halep; sails into the second round of 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg
Australian tennis-pro Jelena Dokic secured a comfortable victory over Romanian Simona Halep 6-2, 6-1 to advance into the second round of 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg in France. The Australian took only 48 minutes to clinch
a straight sets victory over her lower ranked opponent.
The encounter proved to be a completely one sided affair. Although the two players were equally matched and talented, Dokic outclassed the challenger without much trouble.
In the opening set the Australian broke the serve in third game to gain the psychological advantage. She then converted another break chance in seventh game of the set to earn an impassable 5-2 lead in the set. Dokic held on to
her next serve game to clinch the opener 6-2.
The second set also followed a similar trend. Although Halep created a few break chances, she failed to convert them to her advantage. Dokic, on the other hand, was quick to grab opportunities as she used her well placed shots
to great effect. She broke serve three times in the set to end the contest with minimal loss.
Dokic’s superior serve created all sorts of problems for her opponent as she secured 88 per cent of the points on her first serve. She also claimed 51 per cent of the points on Halep’s serve to take complete control of the situation.
Simona Halep on the other failed to make an impression as she committed a large number of unforced errors.
Dokic has been in decent form since the start of this season. At the Australian Open she surprised critics by reaching the second round of the grand slam tournament. Her best performance on tour was recorded at 2011 Paris indoors
where she reached the quarterfinal.
Dokic’s dream run continued at the Malaysian Open as well where she defeated number five seed Lucie Safarova to claim her sixth WTA title.
At the red clay courts tournament here in Strasbourg she will have the opportunity to improve her WTA rankings significantly, however, consistency is going to be the key in the field full of fierce competitors.
In another match here, Serbian Bojana Jovanovski defeated Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-6 (3), 6-3 to make it to the next round.
Jovanovski looked a bit out of sorts early on. However, as the match progressed she raised the level of her game and took the attack to her opponent. The first set was forced in to a tie-breaker after both players held on to their
serve games. The Serbian wrapped up the opener after clinching four straight points in the tie-breaker.
Jovanovski continued to play high quality tennis in the following set as well and made the crucial serve break in eight game of the set to seal the match. She will be hoping to continue her good form in her next match-up as well.
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