Ksenia Pervak ousts Sarah Gronert to enter quarters – Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012
Third seeded Ksenia Pervak got the better of the local contestant, Sarah Gronert, in straight sets at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012 on Thursday. She juggled up a 6-2, 6-3 victory against the world number 173 to cruise into the quarter-finals at this red clay court tournament taking place in Bad Gastein, Austria.
The Kazakh stayed on track to bid for her second WTA career title after tumbling Gronert in their first outing. After stealing the show in one hour and 14 minutes, Pervak not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the 25-year-old but also booked a spot in the final eight.
Pervak stormed into this WTA International-level event and stroke out the opening four games in a row before the German could hold on. The Kazakh held her remaining serves with self-assurance and clicked the opener by winning six games to two. She swiped her entire serves without facing any real trouble and converted two out of three break chances to her advantage.
Ranked 41st in the WTA Premier Rankings, Pervak kept momentum rolling into the following set and earned the critical break in the opening game to take the initial lead. She then held her entire serves without facing any barrier and cashed in another break chance in the last game, subsequently sealing the set with a 6-3 win.
Summing up the Kazakh’s performance, Pervak clobbered a better first serve share of 67 per cent as compared to her opponent’s 48 per cent and amazingly availed 24 out of 28 points on it. She also coughed fewer double faults and sealed the deal with 61 points.
Up next for the 21-year-old is the American qualifier, Chichi Scholl, who stunned sixth seeded Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets to set up this battle.
The second seeded wildcard entrant, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, also earned the limelight later that day. She jolted down a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory against the last year’s runner-up, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, in two hours and 16 minutes. The Belgian amazingly dusted away nine out of 10 breakpoints she came across and cashed in two out of eight break chances to steal the spotlight.
Tags: