Monica Niculescu crushes Valeria Savinykh in her opening battle – e-Boks Open 2012
Fourth seed Romanian, Monica Niculescu, had no troubles at all to dump the 99th ranked Russian opponent, Valeria Savinykh, in the opening round of the e-Boks Open on Tuesday. The world number 29, Niculescu, took just
68 minutes of play to register victory in twin sets, 6-2, 6-2, to book a place in the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) event in Copenhagen, Denmark.
It was a completely one-sided affair, with the 24-year-old Romanian dominating every minute of it. She took hold of the momentum right away and kept slogging Savinykh throughout the contest to drive her out of the tournament in
a comprehensive fashion. Niculescu’s victory levelled her winning record to 8-8 for the running season, moving her one step closer to the quarter-final draw of the tournament.
"The score suggests it was a comfortable match, but the start of both sets were very close and difficult," Niculescu said after defeating the Russian in their first ever encounter on the WTA Tour. "Once I got past that I managed
to dictate a little more with my game. I'm happy to be through and am looking forward to my next match."
Although the fourth seed could merely deliver 50 per cent of her fist serve on target, she dropped just five points on it, winning 18 out of 23, en route to victory. She crafted a total of 13 break opportunities in the matchup
but only five conversions proved sufficient for her to dispose of the bleak Russian contender. Savinykh, on the other hand, could register just one out of four break points in the matchup to finish on the losing side in the end.
Niculescu will meet the unseeded Serbian, Bojana Jovanovski or Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in the second round of the e-Boks Open later this week. Jovanovski and Voegele will go one-on-one against each other on Wednesday afternoon
in the opening round battle and the winner will face Niculescu for a berth in the quarter-finals.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and the second seed German, Angelique Kerber, also won their opening round matches with ease to continue their voyage in Copenhagen.
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