Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez tops Eleni Daniilidou in round one – KDB Korea Open 2012
Defending champion, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, stomped over the Greek qualifier, Eleni Daniilidou, in straight sets at the KDB Korea Open Tennis Championship 2012 on Wednesday. She recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory against the world number 109 to secure a place
in the round of 16 at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International level event held in South Korea.
Martinez Sanchez dominated in the battle between two veterans and eventually pocketed the match in one hour and 33 minutes. As a result, the Spaniard not only took lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against Daniilidou and progressed into the second round
at this outdoor hard court event.
The Barcelona resident made a convincing entry at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. She got the coveted break in the second game and took a 2-0 lead. She lost her edge in the proceeding game but broke the Greek’s serve once again and jumped to a 3-1
lead. Despite losing her edge in the fifth game, Martinez Sanchez pocketed the last three games and clicked the opener with a 6-2 win.
Ranked 93rd in the WTA Premier Rankings, Martinez Sanchez kept momentum rolling in the following set. She smoothly plucked her entire serves after dusting away all four breakpoints she faced. The Spaniard got the breakthrough in the sixth game
and pulled out the set with a 6-3 score line.
The left-hander from Spain took full advantage of nine double faults Daniilidou spilled. She amazingly blocked nine out of 11 breakpoints she faced and clobbered an equal first serve share of 63 per cent. Martinez Sanchez impressively availed 36 out of 51
points on it and ended the match with 75 points.
Up next for Martinez Sanchez is the fourth seed, Nadia Petrova from Russia. The Russian star dumped Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino in straight sets to reach this place.
The second seed, Maria Kirilenko, faced a bitter reality earlier that day. After just eight minutes from start of the match, the Russian felt severe pain and eventually pulled out from the tournament in agony.
Her opponent, So-Ra Lee on the other hand booked a spot in the round of 16.
Tags: