Marina Erakovic upsets Daniela Hantuchova in quarterfinal – Bell Challenge 2011
Ranked 85th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) World Rankings, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, stunned everyone present at Quebec, Canada, disposing of the top seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the quarterfinal of the
Bell Challenge on Friday night.
The world number 25, Hantuchova, suffered a heavy defeat in the round of eight , falling to the unseeded Erakovic in straight sets 4-6, 4-6, to finish her voyage at the $220,000 tournament. The Slovak hung in the matchup for merely
one hour and forty three minutes before succumbing to the aggressive 23-year-old, letting her into the semi-final of the WTA event.
The contest appeared fairly one-sided right from the beginning, with Erakovic dominating every minute of play. The hard-hitting Kiwi contestant proved too good for the top seed to contain and cruised through the game with ease
to register her 49th victory of the running WTA season. Erakovic suffered a straight sets defeat at the hands of Hantuchova a month ago in the round of 64 at the Wimbledon Championships but turned the table on the 25th ranked Slovak this
time round to earn a place in the semis of the Bell Challenge.
Erakovic delivered 53 per cent of her serve on target and clinched 24 out of 35 first serve points in the game. The top seed bettered her by securing 30 out of 50 first serve points on her 61 per cent precise serve but four cracking
serve breaks from Erakovic made the all-important difference in the game. Hantuchova converted two of her eight break opportunities in the match but kept losing the crucial points on regularity, finishing on the losing side in the end.
The opener kicked off with an early trade of serve breaks from both contestants but Erakovic’s second break point conversion of the day sealed the first set in her name at 6-4. The second set was also a complete replication of
the first one, with Erakovic nailing two serve breaks in reply to Hantuchova’s one break through, sealing victory at 6-4.
Erakovic will take on third seed Tamira Paszek of Austria in the semi-final clash on Saturday night.
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