Ksenia Pervak reaches quarterfinals of Monterrey Open 2011
19-year-old Russian Ksenia Pervak earned a hard fought 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 victory over the qualifier Lucie Hradecka on Thursday at the Whirlpool Abierto Monterrey Open 2011.
Pervak held her nerves in the second round match that lasted for more than two hours and forty minutes. With this win, the Russian has reached her first quarterfinal of the season.
The winner of Junior’s Australian Open title 2009, Pervak made a positive start to the match. She looked in control initially breaking her opponent’s serve twice to win the first set 6-3. The left-handed Pervak troubled the Czech with her magnificent forehands
and backhands which earned her decisive points in the set.
However, the tables were turned in the second set. Despite having a firm grip on the match, the Russian lost the track and started to make a large number of unforced errors. Pervak produced a whopping 12 double faults in the match with most of them coming
in the second set. In the tie-breaker, Hradecka converted one mini break point to level the set score 1-1. Her serve was a real weapon as she fired 12 aces.
In the third set, the game changed again in favour of Pervak as her defensive strategy worked well for her and she outlasted her opponent in several rallies. Pervak reached two more serve breaks to complete a magnificent victory. The Russian saved 13 of
15 break points in the match and managed 72 per cent points on her first serve.
Pervak had lost in straight sets to Hradecka in their previous two meetings of the season. However here she was able to get the better of her opponent. Winning against a player ranked higher than herself will certainly boost her confidence as she advances
towards the first Women’s Tennis Association title of her career.
Ksenia Pervak was absolutely stunning in the first round play as well when she upset the fourth seed Julia Georges in straight sets. Georges was being considered as one of the favourites for the tournament. The Russian will now stand every chance to reach
the final stages of the competition if she can continue the same commanding form. However, she will have to work hard on her serve and serve return if she wants to pose a threat to other top seed players.
On the other hand, Lucie Hradecka must be gutted with herself as she failed to make the most of her chances. She was allowed to comeback easily into match after she looked down and out. The Czech won only 2 out of 15 break points she was bestowed with which
eventually led to her downfall.
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