Kaia Kanepi overwhelms Daniela Hantuchova to claim the title – Brisbane International 2012
A magnificent run by the 34th ranked Estonian, Kaia Kanepi, stunned everyone when she dumped the former world number five, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the final of the Brisbane International on Saturday. The battle
of supremacy between the two unseeded competitors ended up in Kanepi’s favour, with the Estonian winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, in just one hour and 14 minutes of play to claim the season-opening WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) title.
Kanepi finally broke the three-match losing streak against the Slovak competitor, registering his first victory against her to reduce the head-to-head trail by 1-3. The unseeded Estonian had an amazing run in the tournament, defeating
three of the seeded players to take off the 2012 WTA season with a title victory.
The unseeded Estonian outplayed the seventh seed Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round, then went on to dump the second seed Andrea Petkovic in the quarter-finals and carry on with his winning roll in the semis
to dispose of the hot favourite third seed, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, to earn a place in the final of the event. She blasted her way past Hantuchova, winning 12 of the 15 total games being played in the matchup to register her championship victory in the
most assertive manner.
It was only the second WTA championship title victory for the 34th ranked Kanepi and a much needed one to take off the new professional season with confidence. Although she delivered merely 54 per cent of her first serve
on target, the Estonian dropped just four points on it to claim 18 out of 22 en route to victory. She crafted eight break points in the matchup and converted five of them to dispose of the Slovak competitor with authority. Hantuchova, on the other hand, utterly
failed to produce a single break opportunity in the entire matchup and never appeared in control of her game at any point of the contest.
After a cautious start in the opener, Kanepi gradually gathered up her pace in the later parts of the game, breaking her opponent’s serve for the first time in the fifth game. Another break of serve in the seventh game was sufficient
for the Estonian to claim the opening set at 6-2, getting one up in the match.
Kanepi nailed two serve breaks right up in the second set to lead 5-1 in no time and held her lead till the end of the contest, finishing off with a breadstick at 6-1 to be declared as the champion in Brisbane.
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