Mona Barthel gusts away Kiki Bertens to reach round two – Swedish Open 2012
World number 41, Mona Barthel, is back on a winning track with a win over the 72nd ranked Dutch starlet, Kiki Bertens. She trounced the 20-year-old right handed Dutch in straight sets 6-3, 6-2; grabbing the triumph in
just 65 minutes and booking the berth in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Swedish Open on the eve of Monday.
It was a cracking start to the match with the opening five games witnessing an opportunity of breakpoints. However, the 22-year-old German was lucky on two occurrences whilst her opponent squandered one opportunity that forced
her to fall behind early in the match.
Barthel won first four games of the match that posted a resounding lead of 4-0 in her favour. However, she dropped a breakpoint in the following game and witnessed a thumping return game that decreased her lead to just 4-2.
Everyone expected to see another breakthrough for the Dutch starlet but the German did well to hold on to the meagre lead and gusted away her rival in the first set with a comprehensive score line of 6-3. Bertens had just won one
match from her last six encounters and was on course to lose another battle that dismantled her confidence.
Moreover, the Dutch had lost two previous head-to-head encounters as well against the seventh seed German. So, it was ominous that she will be under a lot of pressure coming into this match and the devastating first set score line
further sunk her willpower.
The second set witnessed a quick breakthrough for the German at the star that was coupled with a comprehensive serve hold to consolidate the position. It was getting pretty ominous for the Dutch who was struggling to show her strength
at the clay courts of Bastad, Sweden. She lost the match courtesy two consecutive breakpoints for the German in the ending stages of the second set.
In an interview at the end of the match, Barthel commented, “It was a little bit difficult because of the conditions in the beginning; it was really windy and then we had a long break because of the rain.” She further added, “I
think I played a solid match and played well on the big points, and I'm really happy that I won today because I have lost a lot over the past couple of months! For the rest of the tournament, I just want to go out there and have fun and hopefully the results
will follow.”
Barthel faces Kateryna Bondarenko in the next round.
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