Monica Puig upsets Anne Keothavong in opening qualies at BNP Paribas Open
Puerto Rican wild card entrant Monica Puig overpowered 22nd seeded British Anne Keothavong with a bread stick. She scored an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory over the British at the BNP Paribas Open on Monday night.
The 17-years-old Puig who is ranked 429th in the world, entered this tournament after winning her first title at the Surprise ITF. She defeated 5th seeded Slovakian Lenka Wienerova in straight sets in the
final round. She gave an excellent performance as she dumped the British woman out of the event.
In the opening set, despite having a lower first serve percentage of 59 percent as compared to Keothavong’s 68 percent, she broke the Brit’s serve three times and earned an acceptable 56 percent win on her first serve. Keothavong
on the other hand, managed to break Puerto Rican serve twice but her four double faults led her to lose the first set 4-6.
Keothavong, who is world number 109 and showed acceptable performances in the previous tournaments, was clearly outshined by the wildcard entrant. Her performance got poorer in the final set as she double faulted five times and
had a much lower first serve percentage. However, she saved two break points and converted one opportunity to her advantage to win her only game of the final set. On the other side of net, the charged up Puig broke British serve four times to clinch the set
with a breadstick. Besides this, she saved five break points amazingly and earned a convincing 52 percent win on her first serve.
She will next face 12th seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian star reached this spot after overwhelming German wild card Sabine Lisicki with an epic comeback win. She registered 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 win over the German.
World number 91, Cirstea displayed poor performance in the opening set as she had a really low first serve percentage of 35 percent as compared to Lisicki’s 58 percent. Despite committing five double faults, the German got quick
on roads by breaking the Romanian’s serve twice and by earning an astonishing 80 percent win on her first serve.
In the second set, both players played their best tennis as both had a similar first serve percentage and exchanged breaks three times. Lisicki double faulted five times but she covered it by saving two break points and hammering
two aces. The set went to tiebreaker but the Romanian clearly prevailed in it to win the set 7-6(2).
Regardless of three double faults, Cirstea outplayed the German in the final set. She broke Lisicki’s serve three times and had a much better first serve percentage. She clinched the set with a 6-2 score line.
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