Kiki Bertens bounces over Silvia Soler-Espinosa to enter quarters – KDB Korea Open 2012
Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens made an epic comeback from a set down to triumph over the Spanish contender, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, in a three-set thriller at the KDB Korea Open 2012 on Wednesday. She summed up a 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 victory against the world number 78 to power into the quarter-finals at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event taking place in Seoul, South Korea.
The Dutch challenger remained focused throughout the battle and eventually sealed the match in two hours and seven minutes. The contestants last fought each other at the Bath WTA event previous circuit and after winning this match, Bertens improved to a 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series against the Spaniard.
The 24-year-old made quick in-roads at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. She amazingly dusted away all four breakpoints she faced and cashed in both break chances to pull out the opener with a breadstick.
In the following set, Bertens raised the bar of her game. She exchanged three serve breaks and took the set to a tie-breaker. The Dutch prevailed in it and eventually sealed the equaliser with a 7-6(3) win.
Ranked 63rd in the WTA Premier Rankings, Bertens perfected her game in the following set. She kept her entire serves after blocking all four breakpoints she faced. The Dutch capitalised on two out of five break chances and clinched the decider with a 6-2 score line.
Next challenge for Bertens is the third seed, Kaia Kanepi, who tumbled Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva in straight sets to set up this battle.
The defending champion, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, also stole the show later that day. She notched up a 6-2, 6-3 victory against the Greek qualifier, Eleni Daniilidou, in one hour and 33 minutes.
"I feel really comfortable coming back here as defending champion," the Spanish veteran reflected after clicking the match. "It's a really tough draw this year, and it's going to be difficult to defend my title, but I'll try my best and we'll see how it goes."
The Spanish contender lost her serve twice but cashed in five out of six break chances to earn the fame.
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