Maria Elena Camerin defeats Sesil Karatantcheva in the second round qualifiers of the Andalucia Tennis Experience
Top seed qualifier from Italy, Maria Elena Camerin had no real trouble edging past Sesil Karatantcheva of Kazakhstan in the second round of the qualifying draws of the Andalucia Tennis Experience at Marbella, Spain. The Italian
took down her opponent in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, taking merely 77 minutes of play on Sunday evening.
The two contestants have met twice before, standing at an equal head-to-head record of 1-1 against each other. 29-year-old Italian veteran displayed vintage class to wipe out Karatantcheva and move one step closer to the main draws
of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament.
Despite a below par serve game, Camerin bagged most of the crucial points in the game to come out as the winner. She served with a mere 49 per cent accuracy, conceding six double faults and dropping serve four times. Her Kazakh
opponent hit 71 per cent of her first serve on target but collected just 19 out of 56 total serve points in the game.
The top seed appeared in a state of confusion in the opener and committed a number of unforced errors to give the extra advantage to her rival. However, Karatantcheva proved too sloppy on converting opportunities in the first set
and cashed in just three of seven break chances. Her serve was accurate and her error count was reasonable, yet Karatantcheva kept losing points to be at a disadvantage in the game.
The Kazakh won just 25 out of 57 total points in the first set and cracked in three serve breaks to the opponent to reach 3-4. The top seed coughed four double faults but inflicted five break points to Karatantcheva to seal the
opening set at 6-3.
Camerin’s poor serve game continued in the following set but carried on nabbing opportunities to remain on top. Karatantcheva broke her serve in the third game but the Italian belted two serve breaks in a row to race away to a
commanding lead of 5-2. The Kazakh had two more opportunities to break serve but was denied both times by some fiery winners from the top seed.
The Italian top seed won 32 from total 54 points in the set and registered her third serve break before concluding victory in the most assertive manner at 6-2. She needs one more win to make it to the main draw of the Andalucia
Tennis Experience.
Camerin will next face Mona Barthel of Germany to make an entrance to the main draws at Marbella. The unseeded Barthel was successful against the seventh seed Russian, Alexandra Panova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, to make it to
the final round qualifiers.
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