Lucie Hradecka halts Mandy Minella in round one – Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012
Czech star, Lucie Hradecka, crushed dreams of the lucky loser, Mandy Minella, in straight sets at the Internationaux de Strasbourg 2012 on Tuesday. She penned down a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory against the 26-year-old to progress into the second round at this WTA
(Women’s Tennis Association) clay court event held in Strasbourg.
The Prague native last battled Minella at her home town WTA event where she triumphed in a straight set victory. She carried her momentum at this event and stomped over the Luxembourgian star in one hour and 20 minutes, eventually extending her lead in their
head-to-head series by 2-0 and powering into the round of 16.
Hradecka made a sloppy entry at this International-level tournament and bear the initial blow in the third game to fall at 1-3. However, she stayed calm and not only snatched her break back in the 10th game but also dragged the set to the tie-breaker.
The Czech dominated in it and consequently clicked the opener with a 7-6(3) win.
Ranked 60th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Hradecka perfected her game in the follow-up set and earned the coveted break in the third game to jump to a 3-1 lead. She then plucked her remaining serves through brilliant display of her tennis and capitalised
on another break chance in the seventh game, eventually registering a 6-2 success.
All in all, the 27-year-old lost her serve once but converted three out of four break opportunities to her advantage. She spilled more double faults and produced a lower first serve share of 52 per cent as compared to the Luxembourgian 62 per cent. However,
Hradecka amazingly marked 26 out of 32 points on it and stole the show after hammering seven aces.
Up next for the beaming Czech is the Russian qualifier, Alexandra Panova, who stunned fifth seeded Mona Barthel in straight sets to set-up this battle.
The Hungarian star, Timea Babos, also earned the glory later that day. She registered a 3-0 retirement victory against the Latvian qualifier, Anastasija Sevastova, in just 12 minutes from the start of the match. She drew the first blood and was dominating
in the match when Sevastova was forced to pull out from the tournament due to an injury she sustained during the match.
Tags: