Olga Govortsova outlasts Sesil Karatantcheva in the qualifiers – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Qualifier’s fifth seed, Olga Govortsova, required three sets to outclass the Kazakhstani tennis ace, Sesil Karatantcheva, at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Monday. She formulated a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2 victory over the Bulgarian-born to advance into the final
round of the qualifying competition on the hard courts in Indian Wells, United States.
The Belarusian spilled 10 double faults and clobbered a lower first serve share but cashed in nine out of 14 break opportunities to pull out the victory in two hours and 23-minutes. Both contestants were facing each other for the third time but after earning
this success, Govortsova not only maintained her winning record but also secured a spot in the final round of the qualifying competition.
The world number 87, Govortsova high spiritedly entered this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event and went 4-2 up despite suffering the first blow in the third game. Apart from losing her edge in the seventh game, the Belarusian stayed
on track and stroke out the last two games, eventually registering a 6-3 success.
Govortsova kept her rhythm in the following set and earned the critical break in the opening game to take the initial lead. She held her composure and then broke the Kazakh’s serve again in the fifth game to extend the lead by 4-1.
Ranked 131st in the WTA Premier rankings, Karatantcheva re-focused her strategy at that point and snatched a break back in the very next game. She then stayed focused and not only recovered in the tenth game but exchanged a serve break after this,
eventually imposing a tie-breaker. The Kazakh was trailing 6-1 when she hit back and clinched the equaliser with a 7-6(6) score line.
The higher ranked lifted his game again in the final set and earned the desiderated break in the fourth game to go 3-1 up. In spite of losing her serve in the fifth game, Govortsova wiped out the last three games with two breaks of serve and pocketed the
decider by winning six games to two.
Next up for the fifth seed is the Czech challenger, Andrea Hlavackova, who made an epic comeback from a set down to clobber a 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-1 score line.
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