Mattek-Sands/Mirza overpower Dellacqua/Rodionova to reach title-round – Brussels Open 2012
Fourth seeds, America’s Bethanie Mattek-Sands and India’s Sania Mirza, rallied past her former partner, Anastasia Rodionova, and her compatriot Casey Dellacqua in a three set thriller at the Brussels Open 2012 on Thursday. They formulated a 6-3, 4-6, 10-5 victory against the Australians to secure a final berth at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier event held in Brussels, Belgium.
The American-Indian duo required three sets to outsmart their opponents in their first encounter. After earning the limelight in one hour and 21 minutes, they convincingly advanced into the final round at this red clay court event.
Mattek-Sans and Mirza assertively entered the Royal Primerose Tennis Club and easily plucked their opening serve. They lost their serve once but capitalised on two out of three break opportunities to pull out the opener with a 6-3 score line.
The Australian collaboration on the other hand re-structured in the follow-up set. They lost their serve once but cashed in both break chances to seal the equaliser by winning six games to four.
The in-form newly formed pair of Mattek-Sands and Mirza sought their early momentum again in the final set or the super tie-breaker. They dominated throughout the set and ultimately clinched the decider with a 10-5 score line.
Elsewhere, the Ukrainian-Romanian pair of Kateryna Bondarenko and Monica Niculescu also earned the glory. They crippled the Croatian-Hungarian pair of Darija Jurak and Katalin Marosi with a breadstick to advance into the semi-finals.
Bondarenko and Niculescu reeled off the last five games in a row to pull out the opener with a breadstick.
They maintained consistency in their game in the following set and after exchanging three serve breaks, the winning team took the set to a tie-breaker. The Ukrainian-Romanian junction leaped to a 4-1 lead in it before sealing the deal with a 7-6(2) success.
Overall, Bondarenko and Niculescu spilled six double faults but capitalised on five out of seven break chances to pocket the match. They also produced a better first serve share of 72 per cent as compared to their rivals’ 64 per cent and impressively availed 30 out of 44 points on it.
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