Nadia Petrova ends Petra Martic’s resistance in the third round – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
Russian veteran, Nadia Petrova, had to dig deep before sidelining the 21-year-old Croat, Petra Martic, in the third round battle of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday. The reigning world number 18 laboured hard for three hours
and 10 minutes to settle the final score line at 7-6(2), 6-7(1), 6-4, earning a quarter-final berth at the WTA Premier-level event in Tokyo, Japan.
It was one of the most nail-biting contests of the tournament so far, with the 73rd ranked Croat youngster giving some real rough ride to the 30-year-old Russian. She lost the opening set after a stiff tie-break round
but made an emphatic comeback in the very next set to turn the course of the match. Martic’s turn around didn’t last for long as Petrova came out firing in the decisive set and drove her out of the competition with commanding authority.
Since it was the very first face off between these two professionals, Petrova had lesser idea of the resistance Martic could pose. She was off to a casual start in the opener and amazingly bagged all the 16 first serve points to
get into the driving seat. She broke the Croatian serve one out of four times, whilst Martic firmly replied with a cracking break of serve to level bring a tie-breaker into play. Petrova clinched the tie-breaker comprehensively and got one up in the match.
Tide turned in the following set and Martic bagged 17 out of 25 first serve points to generate some pace in the contest. Another exchange of break points from both ends dragged the second set into a tie-break. Petrova could barely
claim one point and had to submit the set to the 21-year-old Croat at 6-7(1).
The Russian blazed her way through the decisive set and broke her opponent three out of seven times to conclude the matchup in her favour at 6-4. Martic was badly hurt by her unforced errors in the contest, as she coughed a total
of 18 double faults, one of which awarded the match point to Petrova in the 10th game of the decider.
Petrova will face the world number seven, Sara Errani, in the quarter-finals.
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