Nadia Petrova wins against Christina McHale in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open
Russian Nadia Petrova, seeded 18th in the event, won her match against American wildcard entrant Christina McHale in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Monday night. Petrova made a
strong comeback in the contest to recover a one set deficit, finishing off at 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, taking two hours and five minutes of play.
The world number 20 avenged her defeat at the hands of McHale at Cincinnati Open last year, levelling her head-to-head record at 1-1 by winning at Indian Wells. The Russian displayed expert tennis skills to fight her way back into
the match and reeled off last two sets to register her fifth win of the year.
Petrova proved herself better than her American opponent in most segments of the game. She had a first serve percentage of 64 in the match, while her rival lagged behind at 55. The Russian secured 38 out of 54 total first serve
points in the game and kept her error count to a minimum, giving away just two double faults.
The Russian had a sloppy start to the opener, dropping her serve early to trail 2-4 in the set. Petrova had four break opportunities but she squandered all four of them to let her opponent take the first set. Although McHale delivered
just 46 per cent of her first serve on target, she collected 31 out of 52 total points being played in the match.
McHale won 19 of 28 serve points in the first set and successfully defended four break points from her opponent to remain on top. The American bagged the opening set after cracking a crucial break towards the end, finishing off
at 6-3 to lead 1-0 in the contest.
Tide turned in the second set as Petrova improved her serve percentage to an impressive 67 per cent, winning 14 out of 20 points on it. She denied McHale two times break opportunities and stung two serve breaks to get a commanding
position in the set. The Russian sealed of the set at 6-4, levelling the match at 1-1.
With both contestants winning one set a piece, the third set was expected to be a tough battle but the Russian proved it wrong. The former world number three displayed her vintage class to dominate her American opponent in the
decider. Petrova served out with an amazing 77 per cent accuracy and took away 70 per cent points on it. McHale received three break chances but squandered all three.
Petrova broke twice before concluding the third set at an assertive note of 6-2, ensuring a pass to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open. She will face Shuai Peng in the next round to fight for a place in the quarter-finals.
Peng outplayed Lucie Hradecka in the third round 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, to qualify for the fourth round of the event.
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