Mandy Minella ousts Ajla Tomljanovic to reach round two – Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012
Luxembourgian star, Mandy Minella, tumbled Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets at the Nurnberger Gastein Ladies 2012 on Tuesday. She formulated a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the Croatian teenager to power into the second round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis
Association) red clay court tournament held in Austria.
Battling each other for the first time, Minella got the better of the world number 213 through tremendous skills and agility. She not only edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against Tomljanovic but also secured a place in the round of 16 in Bad Gastein.
The 26-year-old high-spiritedly entered this WTA International tournament and prevailed in the opening set. Apart from failing to block both breakpoints faced, Minella capitalised on three out of five break opportunities and pulled out the opener with a
6-3 score line.
Ranked 95th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Minella carried her winning ways in the following set and held her opening serve with poise. She amazingly dusted away five out of seven breakpoints she came across and cashed in all three break opportunities,
eventually sealing the set by winning six games to four.
Summing up the high ranked player’s performance, Minella spilled fewer double faults and produced a better first serve share of 57 per cent as opposed to the Croat’s 54 per cent. She also impressively marked 22 out of 35 points on it and finished the match
with 63 points. The high flying Luxembourgian sought eight break opportunities and ruled throughout the match.
Next in line for Minella is the conqueror of the match between the fourth seeded Carla Suarez Navarro and the Polish contestant, Marta Domachowska.
The German rising star, Sarah Gronert, will accompany Minella in the second round. She swiftly swiped in her entire serves and cashed in five out of eight break opportunities, eventually sealing the deal with a 6-2, 6-0 score line against Czech Republic’s
Eva Birnerova. Gronert clobbered an equal first serve share of 38 per cent and amazingly availed 14 out of 15 points on it.
Gronert will square off against third seed Ksenia Pervak and the Spanish contestant, Lara Arruabarrena Vecino.
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