Lucie Safarova slaughters Polona Hercog to secure a title-round berth – Family Circle Cup 2012
Czech tennis star, Lucie Safarova, devastated the 14th seed, Polona Hercog, with double bagels at the Family Circle Cup 2012 on Saturday. She jolted down a spectacular 6-0, 6-0 victory against the Slovene to cruise into the final showdown at this
WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier event held in Charleston, South Carolina.
The ninth seed displayed brilliant tennis to halt Hercog in straight sets at this green clay court event. Facing each other for the third time, Safarova not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 2-1 against the 21-year-old but also booked a spot in
the final round.
Ranked 26th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Safarova stormed into the Family Circle Tennis Center and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. She continued firing massive forehands from her arsenal of skills and wiped out
the following five games in a row, consequently bagging the set with an assuring 6-0 success.
The gracious Czech maintained her intensity in the proceeding set and went on another six-game killing spree, ultimately pulling out the second bagel in almost half an hour. Safarova dusted away both breakpoints she came across and converted three out of
five breakpoints to her advantage.
Summing up the 25-year-old’s performance, Safarova clobbered a lower first serve share of 64 per cent as compared to Hercog’s 68 per cent but impressively clicked 19 out of 28 points on it. The Czech also showed tremendous defensive skills after saving all
breakpoints she faced and finished the match with 55 points.
Up next for Safarova is the former world number one, Serena Williams, who crushed the second seed, Samantha Stosur, with double breadsticks earlier that day.
"Yeah, I got you," Safarova said to Williams after the match. "It's a great challenge. She's a great player and you see what she's done today."
Williams slew the reigning US Open Champion after capitalising on five out of seven break opportunities. She also struck seven aces and superbly availed 21 out of 23 points on her first serve share to formulate a 6-1, 6-1 score line in just under an hour.
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