Nadia Petrova breezes past Andrea Hlavackova to reach round two – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Russian star, Nadia Petrova, tumbled over the Czech qualifier, Andrea Hlavackova, in straight sets at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Tuesday. She joggled up a 6-3, 6-3 success against the world number 97 to power into the second round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event taking place in Italy.
The Russian veteran required almost one and a half-hour long marathon to trash Hlavackova in their second encounter. The contestants previously battled each other at the Australian Open earlier this season and after bagging this match, Petrova not only jumped to a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head series against the Czech but also inched closer towards her 11th career title.
Petrova made a strong entry at Foro Italico and drew the first blood in the fourth game to jump to a 4-1 lead. Apart from losing her serve in the seventh game, the Russian cashed in another break chance in the very next game and then served out the opener with a 6-3 success.
Ranked 30th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Petrova kept momentum rolling into the following set and went on a four-game tear before the Czech could hold on. Despite losing her edge in the eighth game, the Russian broke Hlavackvoa’s serve once more and clinched the set with a 6-3 score line.
Summing up the 29-year-old performance, Petrova fired seven vicious aces and found 13 break opportunities. She clobbered a lower first serve share of 57 per cent as compared to her rival’s 62 per cent but impressively clicked 20 out of 30 points on it.
Next challenge for Petrova is the former world number one, Serena Williams, who tumbled over the Kazakhstani contender, Galina Voskoboeva, in straight sets to set-up this meeting. The American number one lost her serve once but capitalised on four out of six break opportunities to formulate a 6-2, 6-3 success.
The 14th seed, Dominika Cibulkova, also stole the show later that day. She crippled the Croatian qualifier, Mirjana Lucic, with a breadstick in almost an hour to advance into the proceeding round at this red clay court event.
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