Karin Knapp stuns Monica Niculescu in the opener – Tashkent Open 2012
World number 135, Karin Knapp, registered an upset against the 24-year-old Romanian top seed, Monica Niculescu, in the opening round of the Tashkent Open on Tuesday. She bounced back a set down to clobber the victory in three sets;
winning the contest 2-6, 6-3 7-5. It was an entertaining marathon of two hours and 43 minutes.
Knapp started the contest with a serve hold. However, she wasn’t able to repeat the performance in the third game and lost the first breakpoint of the match. Things never looked good for the 25-year-old Italian in the first phase
of the match. To her misery, she lost another breakpoint in the seventh game and couldn’t break serve back in the following game to keep the set alive.
The Italian was under the cosh in the second set’s third game as well but did well to hang on to her serve. A sudden shift in the proceedings was witnessed at the hard courts of Uzbekistan. Knapp won all four points on her opponent’s
serve and won the first breakthrough of the second set. A swap of breakpoints towards the ending stage of the second set helped the Italian to retain her lead.
Niculescu who was the top seed contestant of the tournament was on the verge of losing the second set. A serve hold to love for the Italian enforced the final battle into play. It was expected that the 47th ranked Romanian
will sneak a triumph and avoid the upset but that was not the case.
The Romanian started the decider in an emphatic fashion; survived the first serve game and squeezed a breakpoint in the following game. It was a stunning start for the top seed superstar who retained the lead until the scores were
pushed to 2-2. However, the Italian fought back; won a breakthrough and levelled the scores at 3-3.
Another swap of breakpoints pushed the scores to 5-5. Knapp stole another breakthrough in the 11th game and held her serve to clinch the win. Knapp stated, “Monica is a very unusual player, but I have played her before
and I knew to win I had to push myself and hit the ball hard, so that's what I did! I only just landed here and didn't have any rhythm at the beginning but as the match progressed I started getting my strokes."
Karin Knapp faces Eva Birnerova in the following round.
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