Klara Zakopalova crushes Ksenia Pervak to reach the second round of Brussels Ladies Open
World number 33 Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic blew away Ksenia Pervak of Russia in the first round of the 2011 Brussels Ladies Open in Brussels, Belgium on Monday.
The 29-year-old took two hours and thirty six minutes to wind up her three sets victory 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, to book a second round berth at the WTA (Women Tennis Association) Premier-level tournament.
Pervak put up a decent fight but didn’t have the consistency in her shots. The Czech served brilliantly and dominated most of the rallies in an impressive manner. However, she had a lapse in concentration in the second set and also had a comparatively poor break point conversion rate of just 9 from 21 but overall she was far too strong for the Russian. The 19-year-old Russian proved a total mismatch for the Czech and failed to pose any real challenge.
Zakopalova had better serve statistics in the match, something her opponent greatly lacked. She delivered 68 percent first serve on target and secured 45 out of 74 points on it. Her opponent on the other hand committed six double faults and stayed behind with a difference of eleven points during the whole process. The amount of aggression that existed in Pervak’s game was nowhere near the amount found in her opponent.
The Czech won the toss and opted to serve first, kicking off the match in an aggressive manner. She started the opener plausibly and moved to a 5-0 lead, but her opponent quickly bounced back and managed to take the score to 5-all.
This was never going to be easy, but the Czech had to change her strategy if she wished to seize the match. The Czech pro did not allow her opponent to develop any sustained rhythm and served out the first set to take an early advantage.
The Russian took the early lead by breaking in the second game of the first set. She spilled out one double fault to bestow a break point to Zakopalova but snatched the advantage back in the very next game stinging a serve break to lead 5-3. Pervak recorded a meagre 46 percent on her first serves and close out the first set 6-3.
Despite a poor second set, the Czech backed up her confidence and continued her impressive play by taking the final set 6-4. The 29-year-old Czech won 58 percent of her first serve points compared to Pervak’s 23 percent. Despite not playing as well on her second serve it was the Czech’s edge in the rallies that helped her win this match.
She now moves on ahead to face either Slovenian Polona Hercog or Romania’s Alexandra Dulgheru in the second round of the tournament.
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