Nina Bratchikova defeats Anastasiya Yakimova in opening round – Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge 2011
Russian Nina Bratchikova bombarded massive groundstrokes to destroy second seeded Belarusian Anastasia Yakimova with a bagel and a breadstick on Monday. She barely sweated to formulate a 6-0, 6-1 success over the 25-year-old Belarusian to secure a second round spot at the Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge 2011, an ITF Women’s Circuit event taking place on the hard courts in Dubai, UAE.
Ranked 146th in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier Rankings, Bratchikova put up a solid display of tennis to stun the seed, ranked eighty-four levels above her in their third meeting. After earning victory for the first time against Yakimova, the Russian not only inched towards her second year-to-date title but also booked a round of sixteen spot.
Bratchikova snapped out from a two match losing streak in style. She went berserk in the opening set and unleashed barrage of powerful groundstrokes and forehands to go on a six games killing spree. She brushed off all breakpoints faced and capitalised on three breakpoint chances to her advantage to swiftly earn the bagel in around twenty minutes.
Her impressive run of form continued in the final set as she wiped out opening three games in a row before the seeded Belarusian could come on the score sheet for the first time. Bratchikova re-kindled the spark and stroke out last three games consecutively, earning a breadstick in almost twenty-five minutes. She again defended all breakpoints came across, holding her entire serves confidently.
26-year-old Russian made an exceptional start to the season as she breezed in the Rabat clay courts and pulled out her first year-to-date title. Despite seeing a dip in form, she raised her game again at Monzon ITF where she made a last four appearance before losing to sixth seeded Czech Petra Cetkovska. Her impressive run of form continued in remaining tournaments as she reached the quarters at Johannesburg, Bukhara and Pozoblanco, and made last four showings at Grado, Lagos and Rome – Tiro ITF Women’s Circuit events before entering this event.
Next up for the high spirited Russian is the winner of the match between British wild card entrant Emily Webley-Smith and Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova and she can easily wiped them out if she maintains consistency in her game.
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