Kaia Kanepi destroys Mariana Duque Marino in the second qualifying round of Brussels Ladies Open
Estonia’s wild card, Kaia Kanepi destroyed world number 318, Colombian Mariana Duque Marino at the Royal Primerose Tennis Clun in Brussels, Belgium on Sunday. She registered a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Colombian to cruise to the
final round of qualifying draw at the 2011 Brussels Ladies Open.
Ranked 16th in the WTA (Women Tennis Association) rankings list, Kanepi hasn’t had much progress this season winning only eight out of her last seventeen matches. She recently reached the semi-final at Open GDF Suez
where she defeated Anastasija Sevastova, Sofia Arvidsson and Dominika Cibulkova before losing to 2011 Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters in straight sets.
The 25-year-old displayed tremendous skills in the opening set and despite having a meagre first serve share of 53 percent; she earned an amazing 89 percent win on it. She held her entire serves spectacularly and saved two of three
breakpoints through her superb defensive shots. Marino saw plenty of break-chances in the opening set but failing to make good use of them, she allowed her Estonian opponent to get the better of her. She scored 46 percent of her first serves and won 50 percent
of points on her serve. Kanepi on the other hand was comparatively more agile and managed to convert two of five breakpoints against Marino to win the first set with 6-3 score line.
Breaking Marino in the very first game and holding her serve majestically, Kanepi went up 4-1 without much effort. Before her opponent could find her footing, the fleet-footed Estonian had wrapped up the second set. Kanepi was
good on 59 percent of her first serves and ended up winning 69 percent of points on serve. Marino on the other hand couldn’t catch up with her opponent’s pace and lost the match with 59 percent on her service, 26 percent on return and 44 percent of points
in total.
Kanepi, emerging victorious today, has improved her year-to-date win loss mark to 9-9. Up next for the Estonian is Marta Domachowska of Poland in the final round of qualifying draw. Domachowska is ranked 238th in the
world and edged past seventh seeded Julia Glushko of Israel in the second round of qualifier. Kanepi and Domachowska will be meeting for the first time in their career when they square off on Monday.
Tags: