Kiki Bertens outplays Flavia Pennetta in the second round battle – Grand Prix de SAR 2013
World number 41, Kiki Bertens, carries on with her winning streak in Marrakech and reached the quarter-final draw of Grand Prix de SAR La Princess Lalla Meryem on Thursday. The fifth seeded Dutch had a two hour and 35-minute battle
with Flavia Pennetta and eventually defeated her in three sets, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-4.
Bertens is the defending champion at Marrakech and her most recent victory has extended her winning streak to 10-0 in this tournament (including the qualifying matches as well). She registered a comprehensive victory against Timea
Babos of Hungary in the opening round, 7-5, 6-2, but had to dig deep to take down the likes of Pennetta. She was facing the Italian veteran for the first time in her professional career and perhaps this was the reason she took significant amount of time to
read her game play. However, the defending champion stood tall in the intense pressure situations of the match and registered her 14th victory of the running WTA season. Bertens didn’t display her best tennis on Thursday but it was still good enough
to get the better of the world number 113, Penentta.
"It was not my best match today," Bertens said in the post match reviews. "It was hard with all the wind, but I'm happy that I won. I tried to focus and fight for every point, which made the difference for me. I hope I can keep
the streak going. I have to play a lot more aggressive and hit the ball a little bit better and not make as many mistakes. It's difficult because of the altitude here, but I hope to play better tomorrow."
Bertens’ 61 per cent precise first serve included 11 double faults, six of which came in the opening set alone. However, she claimed 38 out of 63 first serve points and broke the Italian serve seven out of 13 times to come out
victorious in the end. Pennetta also nailed seven break points but couldn’t clinch the crucial points in the contest, eventually finishing on the losing side.
Bertens will play against Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the quarter-finals.
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