Kateryna Bondarenko crushes Johanna Larsson to advance into 3rd round – Gastein Ladies 2011
Ukrainian tennis pro Kateryna Bondarenko crushed Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-5, 6-0 to book her place in the third round of 2011 NURNBERGER Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein, Austria.
Bondarenko has been in commanding form since the Women’s Tennis Association tournament has started. In her opening match, she made quick work of Spanish Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-0, 6-4. It will not be wrong to say that she looks
in great touch to clinch her second WTA title on the clay courts of Bad Gastein.
Larsson looked in control of her game early on but as the match progressed she lost the track as unforced errors and double faults started to come off her racquet a lot more frequently.
Bondarenko had the first chance to break the serve in second game of the opening set. Breaking her opponent with three straight points, she took a vital 3-0 lead. Looking for an entry back into the set, Larsson raised the level
of her game as she broke straight back to level the game score. After both players exchanged serve breaks twice, the set entered a very interesting and exciting phase.
Leading the game score 6-5, Bondarenko broke the serve for the third time in the set to prevent the set going into the tie-breaker as she took the set score lead 1-0. Larsson fought bravely and created certain opportunities for
herself but it must be highlighted that Bondarenko played the big points better and deservingly bagged the opener.
Bondarenko concentrated even harder on her game play in the following set as she started to time the ball really sweetly. Breaking the serve at regular intervals, she took complete control of the situation to put her in the driving
seat. Larsson fell under pressure as she started to give cheap points to her opponent. Claiming six games successively in the second set, Bondarenko completed an emphatic straight sets victory in a match that lasted for exactly 1 hour.
Bondarenko served with control and accuracy as she hit 72 per cent first serve. Although she made a few double faults, generally the standard of her serving was quite high. The Ukrainian had to fight hard for her second serve points
but she made up for that with a strong performance in other areas of the game. Converting six out of eight break points during the contest, she made sure that she was not missing out on too many opportunities.
Having defeated the Swede twice this season, Bondarenko now leads their head to head record 2-0. In her next match-up at the tournament, she will be taking on Spanish Carla Suarez Navarro.
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