Marta Sirotkina stuns Mandy Minella to reach semis – Ankara Cup 2012
Russian starlet, Marta Sirotkina, surprised everyone after shocking top seed, Mandy Minella, with a breadstick at the Ankara Cup 2012 on Thursday. She jolted down a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory against the Luxembourgian star to power into the final four at this ITF (International Tennis Federation) Women’s Circuit event taking place in Ankara, Turkey.
Seeded fifth in this event, Sirotkina displayed spectacular tennis to outclass the Luxembourgian in their first encounter. After recording the victory in almost one hour and 15 minutes, Sirotkina comfortably progressed into the semi-finals at this indoor hard court tournament taking place from 17th to 23rd December.
In the opening set, both tennis starlets showed brilliant skills and abilities at the Ankara Tennis Club. Sirotkina capitalised on two break chances and climbed to a 5-1 lead. Despite losing her edge after that, the Russian remained calm and prolonged the set to a tie-breaker. She edged past her opponent in it and eventually clicked the opener with a 7-6(5) win.
Ranked 159th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Sirotkina kept her momentum rolling in the following set. After Minella held her serve in the second game, the Russian unleashed flurry of groundstrokes to reel off following five games and clinched the set with a breadstick. She warded off the only breakpoint she faced and cashed both break chances to earn the glory.
The 21-year-old dominated throughout the battle. She spilled less unforced errors and double faults. In addition to this, Sirotkina clobbered a better first serve share and fired more aces.
Next in line for Sirotkina is the Croatian qualifier, Ana Savic, who recorded a 6-2, 2-0 retirement victory against the Montenegro lucky loser, Danka Kovinic, to set up this meeting. The Croat was leading a set and 2-0 when the lucky loser felt severe pain on her back and subsequently retired from the event.
The second seed, Monica Puig, faced a better fate later that day. She slaughtered the Uzbekistani challenger, Akgul Amanmuradova, with a bagel to progress. The Puerto Rican went on a 10-game killing spree before carving out the victory with a 6-0, 6-2 score line.
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