Kiki Bertens stuns Mona Barthel in round one – Generali Ladies Linz 2012
World number 60, Kiki Bertens, registered an upset against the 37th ranked German star, Mona Barthel, in the first round of the Generali Ladies Linz. On the eve of Monday, both players locked horns for the fourth time
in their professional careers and the 20-year-old Dutch managed to squeeze the victory deep in three sets; winning the contest 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-1.
A battle of an hour and 37 minutes witnessed swirl of luck from one player to another before it finally landed in favour of the Dutch. She had never defeated the 22-year-old German in their past three meetings, one of them played
earlier in the season in July at Bastad. So, it was a crucial tie for the Dutch upcoming superstar who had to break the shackles and defy the odds in order to extract a triumph.
Barthel was completely bamboozled by the early onslaught from the Dutch who captured a breakpoint in the first game of the match. However, a return breakthrough for the German star helped her to grab control of the proceedings
and more importantly equalize the scores at 3-3.
No breakthrough was witnessed in the remaining portion of the set despite firm resistance from Bertens especially. A tie-breaker round was enforced to separate the two athletes and it was the 20-year-old Dutch who clasped the opening
set after winning two mini-breaks earlier on.
The second set was in total command of the 22-year-old German. She won an early breakthrough and coupled it with a two in the end to win the second set in just seven games. It was a treat to witness Barthel butchering her opponent
with those big booming forehands. However, it seemed like the Dutch had already surrendered after losing the second breakpoint in the set and wanted to conserve energy for the final battle which was inevitable.
Bertens replied the onslaught of her rival with an absolute throttle in the final set. She breezed past her rival with three breakpoints; allowing just one serve hold to Barthel. It ended the contest in favour of the Dutch who
will be facing the successful contender in the contest between the two lucky losers, Irina Camelia-Begu and Catalina Castano.
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