Julia Goerges escapes upset against Daniela Hantuchova in quarters – Dubai Championships 2012
World Number 19, Julia Goerges, escaped an upset against the Slovak beauty queen, Daniela Hantuchova, in the quarter-final clash of the Dubai Duty Free Championships. On Thursday, the German tennis ace bounced back a set down to oust the Slovak in two hours
and 15 minutes. The contest ended up with final scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in favour of the German.
It was a first face-off between the two divas. They were witnessed in action by a mammoth crowd at the hard courts at the Decoturf II, Dubai. A nervy start the match witnessed a flurry of breakthroughs at either end with scores progressing 3-3. Both players
had already swapped a couple of breakpoints and the stage was set for an enthralling battle.
With scores further progressing 4-4, it looked like that the set was moving towards a tie-breaker round but suddenly there was a couple of unforced errors from the German that registered a breakthrough for the Slovak. Goerges had to win a break back in order
to stay in the set but she could only win a couple of points in the following serve; seeing herself a set down.
The second set was totally different with the German cruising away with a lead of 4-0 at the start. Hantuchova had to win two breakpoints to stay in the set but she could only register one successful break serve with her opponent gobbling up the win to her
name. It proved to be a classic comeback from Goerges who looked a much improved contestant in the second set.
She continued to hammer her opponent down and took a 3-0 lead in the final set. Hantuchova had once again gone down with a trail of two breaks; although, she won one break back but could not perform any heroics to register another one. Goerges tactically
held her lead and dodged a major upset in the making.
Earlier in the day, Ana Ivanovic lost her match against Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. She left the tournament stage with these words, "I'm a bit disappointed, for sure. I was consistent at times, but it wasn't good enough. I was lacking a bit more
patience during some moments. I was going for too much too soon. And when I was going for it, I wasn't going for it at the right times. I'm disappointed at missing those opportunities.”
Goerges and Wozniacki square-off in the semi-final battle on Friday.
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