Nina Bratchikova ousts Eleni Daniilidou in the qualifiers – 2012 Brisbane International
Nina Bratchikova of Russia nailed down her superior ranked rival, Eleni Daniilidou of Germany, in the first qualifying round of 2012 Brisbane International, on Saturday. Contested on hard courts in Brisbane, Australia, the matchup witnessed both competitors
going hard at each other for a berth in the second qualifying round. It was a hard-fought battle of almost two hours, eventually ending in the favour of the tougher competitor, Bratchikova, with a cumulative score of 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-1.
Unconventional start to the match saw the winner breaking in the first game and taking 2-0 lead upfront. Superior ranked German had to break back to level the scores but she lost another game on her serve that took the score to 4-1 in no time. The
Russian continued her dominance and pushed the score to 5-1 to spare nothing for the rival to take advantage off.
With just one game to her name, German felt heartbroken and lost the set 6-2. Trailing one set down after struggling to make any sort of impact, German bounced back strong and registered a close triumph in the second set. No breaks and conventional
game play helped both players to hold on to their serves. A tie-breaker round was enforced to decide the set and an experienced performer stayed calm that helped her to clinch that critical point that forced the match into the third set.
The Inferior ranked Russian started the third set with an onslaught by taking the opening game and breaking her opponent’s serve in the next. The German was left with no hope when Bratchikova stung another serve break to reach a commanding position
in the final set. The scored moved on to 5-0 in favour of the underdog and she just spared a single game for her competitor before confirming her place in the second qualifying round draws.
With this triumph Russian gained the head-to-head lead of one match and raised her chances of qualifying into the main round of the Brisbane International tournament. She looked ecstatic at her performance and victories will boost her morale just before
the official start of the new season.
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