Lucie Hradecka wins first qualifying match at 2011 BNP Paribas Open
Czech Lucie Hradecka makes an impressive start as she battles past Belarusian Anastasia Yakimova 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the qualifying round of 2011 BNP Paribas Open on Monday.
Hradecka was certainly the more focused and consistent of the two players in a match that lasted for nearly two hours and forty minutes. She started off tentatively as she committed a few unforced errors early on. Although she
lost a tight first set 5-7, it was clear from her approach that she wasn’t going down without a fight.
The second set was another nerve battle between the two contestants as both players tried their best to gain the psychological advantage with a serve break. However, the Czech came back strong and clinched the second set 6-3. She
then continued to make the most of her opponent’s mistakes in the final set 6-4 and booked her place in the next stage of the qualifying tournament.
Hradecka, who achieved her career high ranking of world number thirty two in June 2010, has been giving very inconsistent results over the last few months. She has a good win to loss ratio of 18/5 for this season but her inability
to win important and crucial encounters has always remained a question. She did well at the Monterrey Open just a week ago winning four of the matches she played but was eventually knocked out by Pervak. Earlier this year she won her three matches in three
sets at Memphis USA but was beaten by Rybarikova in the second round. If she wants to make it to the final stages of the Women’s Tennis Association tournament she must learn to perform under pressure.
Hradecka will now take on Petra Martic of Croatia in the match for a place in the main draw. Martic eased past Canadian number one Aleksandra Wozniak 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 and looked in commanding foam. The Czech will have to prepare well
and look to fight right till the end if she wants to come up victorious from that encounter.
On the other hand Anastasiya Yakimova was gutted with poor effort as she expressed her disappointment at a painful loss. The 24-year-old was playing absolutely brilliantly and she executed most of her shots to perfection. However,
she was unable to convert the chances she received from the other contestant. She won only six of the break points out of thirteen that cam her way. Yakimova made an astonishing seventeen double faults which led to her downfall in the match. She did well
in all areas of the game but her serve was not up to the mark to say the least.
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