Krista Hardebeck capsizes Irina Khromacheva; advances to the semis – Australian Open (juniors) 2012
Russian teenager, Irina Khromacheva, was flabbergasted at the Australian open (juniors) quarter-finals by the 426th ranked American, Krista Hardebeck. It was a straight sets triumph for the underdog as she booked a berth
in the semi-finals with a scores of 6-3, 6-3.
It was an emphatic first time face-off between the two teenagers. It started with the successful serve break for the American and she doubled the lead with a successful serve in the next game. She broke serve once again to extend
her lead to 3-0 and got hold of the momentum. She struck some eye startling winners down the line, depicting her sheer talent and class at such young age.
The confidence of the top seed wasn’t dismantled by the rolling momentum of the American competitor and the Russian broke serve in the fourth game to control the initial outbreak of her rival. Both players held their serves in
the next two games to push the scores to 4-2 in favour of the American. Two successive serve breaks were again traded by both contestants that kept the lead of the American intact.
Hardebeck hammered her opponent in the ninth game to break serve for one more time to register the first set triumph in a convincing fashion. She lead by one set and stunned the top seed, who looked confident at the sidelines for
a comeback in the next set.
The two youngsters traded two more serve breaks in the opening games of the second set, moving on neck-to-neck. Hardebeck was the one who looked a better player and won a deserving breakthrough in the fourth game to take the lead
3-1. Immense pressure kept mounting on her opponent and the contest started tilting in favour of the American, with the Russian losing confidence on her abilities.
No more breakthroughs were seen in the remaining games and that confirmed the triumph for the underdog. It was such a stunning performance and the whole arena gave a standing ovation to the American teenager. She is the only one
who is not seeded in the semi-final contest. She will have to go through another seeded player to have a shot at the title.
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