Monica Puig slays Akgul Amanmuradova to reach semis – Ankara Cup 2012
Second seed, Monica Puig, devastated the Uzbekistani challenger, Akgul Amanmuradova, with a bagel at the Ankara Cup 2012 on Thursday. She notched up a 6-0, 6-2 victory against the Uzbekistani to power into the final four at this indoor hard court tournament
taking place from 17th to 23rd December in Ankara, Turkey.
The Puerto Rican star unveiled her true form after stepping into this ITF (International Tennis Federation) Women’s Circuit event. She reeled off 10 games in a row before pulling out the victory in under an hour. Battling each other for the first time, Puig
comfortably advanced into semi-finals.
Puig thundered into the Ankara Tennis Club. She blasted powerful forehands from her arsenal of skills and winded up all six games consecutively. The Puerto Rican was never threatened with any breakpoint and converted all three break chances to her advantage.
Ranked 133rd in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Puig maintained her intensity in the following set. She stroke out four games consecutively before Amanmuradova could come on the second sheet. The Puerto Rican lost her serve
in the sixth game but remained focused, eventually sealed the set with a 6-2 win. She brushed off two out of three breakpoints she came across but capitalised on three out of five break chances to achieve her goal.
The 19-year-old outshined her opponent in every department of tennis. She nudged up a better first serve share and fired several winners. Puig also committed lower unforced errors and ruled throughout the duel.
The second seed will face off Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic in the final four. The seventh seed slaughtered the Russian contestant, Margarita Gasparyan, with a breadstick to progress at this event. She clobbered a 6-1, 6-2 score line against the Russian to
inch closer towards the prize money.
The top seed, Mandy Minella, faced a bitter reality later that day. She suffered a 6-7(5), 1-6 loss at the hands of the fifth seed, Marta Sirotkina, in their first encounter. The Luxembourgian star got off track in the opening set tie-breaker and eventually
exited form the tournament with disappointment.
Sirotkina on the other hand set up a date with the Croatian qualifier, Ana Savic.
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