Mona Barthel slashes Varvara Lepchenko in the final qualifying round - Open GDF Suez 2012
German tennis ace, Mona Barthel, eased into the main draw of the Open GDF Suez tournament, contested in Paris. She defeated the 25-years-old American, Varvara Lepchenko, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4 in the final qualifying
round on Monday.
It was never a tough task for the top seed German who was fuming with confidence. She was enjoying a marvellous run of form in the recent past, losing just one encounter against the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka,
in the third round of the Australian Open.
Lepchenko was going through a topsy turvy session at the courts; facing tough time and failing to find the sublime touch and some consistency in her game play. Luckily for her, she was chosen as the lucky loser to play in
the main round of the tournament. It was good news for her as she was awarded another chance to explore her form and flabbergast everyone with some eye-startling performance. She faces her compatriot, Christina McHale, in the opening round of the main draw.
Barthel started the proceedings with a successful serve game and broke serve to take the lead upfront. Both players traded breakpoints in the following two games with the American continued to control the proceedings and
leading the scores 3-1. Both players once again exchanged serve breaks in the seventh and eighth game; it kept the top seed’s lead intact as she limbered up to serve for the set. She successfully bagged the first set and mounted pressure on her opponent.
Second set started with a successful breakthrough for the German. She continued to dominate the game with some breathtaking and jaw-dropping winners. Forehand Cross-court returns of Barthel were a treat to watch. Both players
held their respective serves and scoreboard kept ticking over. Lepchenko stayed in the hunt of the breakpoint and she went close on accomplish her goal at couple of occasions but Barthel utilized her guile to successfully sneak through those crucial times.
No more breakpoints were witnessed and the top seed American booked a berth in the main round of the tournament. She will contest against the Czech player, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, in the opening round of the tournament.
Russian world number three, Maria Sharapova, is the top seed player of the tournament getting a bye in the first round and directly inching one step ahead to her maiden title of the season. It is going to be an interesting tournament with so many talented
players lining up for the Paris title.
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