Kristina Barrois gusts past Alberta Brianti to reach the main draw – Open GDF Suez 2012
German veteran tennis player, Kristina Barrois, ousted the 31-years-old Italian participant, Alberta Brianti, in the final qualifying round of the Open GDF Suez, contested in Paris. It was a display of sheer class and domination
from the German who triumphed in straight sets 6-0, 6-3.
With this win, Barrois secured a berth in the main round of the tournament where she plays the fellow American qualifier, Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Fortunately for the Italian, she was chosen as the lucky loser and will advance
into the next round and play the Czech contestant, Petra Cetkovska.
Both players had played against one another on four occurrences before and Barrois led the head-to-head tally with 3-1. The only time she faulted against the Italian was in Deauville way back in 2006. Other than that, she
has been consistently winning in straight sets (except Milan 2006 where lost the seconds set but fought back and won the match in the final set).
First set was a bagel for the German. It clearly showed that she was on top of her game, allowing no chance whatsoever to her opponent. She broke serve three times in succession and didn’t fault even once during her serve
games to bag the first six games of the match. The backhand cross-court and forehand down the line winners did the trick for the German.
Brianti found herself in all sorts of trouble; she wasn’t able to find her timing right and was caught on heels on most of the occasions. Sparkling display from her counterpart doubled her misery as she struggled to save
a miserable defeat in the first set. Barrois was cruising with confidence and Branti was looking to revive some lost respect by registering a respectable score in the second set.
A remarkable turnaround in the proceedings was witnessed in the contest. The Italian flabbergasted everyone by winning the first serve game and doubling the lead with a stunning breakthrough in the following game. All of
a sudden, the momentum shifted towards her side and she looked to consolidate her position in the contest. She further enhanced her lead by bagging the following serve game and pushing the scores to 3-0.
It seemed like the Italian contestant was going to pull a major upset in the second round but the German fought back to win three games on the trot, including a vital breakpoint to level the scores. She continued her domination
and broke serve twice in succession in the following three games to diminish any chances of a comeback from her opponent.
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