Petra Cetkovska ousts Kimiko Date-Krumm in 1st round – HP Japan Open 2011
Fourth seeded Czech Petra Cetkovska got the better of Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm in the opening draw of the HP Japan Open 2011. The pair played the opening match on the outdoor hard courts of Utsubo Tennis Center in Osaka, Japan.
After one hour and fifty four minutes, the fourth seeded Czech scored in straight sets of 6-2, 7-6(2) over her Japanese challenger on Tuesday the 11th of October 2011.
The Japanese decided to serve first as she had just won the service toss and she skilfully managed to hold her service game. Following in her footsteps was the Czech and she too placed herself on the scoreboard at 1-1. The players
repeated the feat on their service games and the scoreboard had moved to 2-2.
It was in the fifth game that Date-Krumm lost control of her service game and ended up endorsing a game to her adversary. Cetkovska not only capitalized on the breakpoint but as she held her serve in the sixth game, she took the
lead of 4-2. The fourth seeded Czech was now only two games away from victory and as she repeated the feat, she conquered the opening set with a speedy 6-2 victory.
The second set of the match was also initiated by Date-Krumm and this she not only held her service game but also went on to breaking her opponent in the second game which placed her on the scoreboard at 2-0. She further increased
the lead by holding her serve in the third game and rotated the scoreboard to 3-0.
Cetkovska made a return in the fourth game by holding her serve and she then managed to reduce t he deficit to 2-3 by breaking her adversary. By the end of the sixth game, the fourth seed had completely closed in on the deficit
and equalized the score at 3-3 by holding her serve.
During the seventh game Cetkovska broke her opponent and as she held serve in the eighth game, she had taken the lead at 5-3. She was now only a game away but unfortunately she was unable to put pressure on her adversary and bag
the match.
Mean while, the Japanese matched a blow for a blow and closed in on her adversary as she tied the score at 5-5 with a hold of serve and by breaking Cetkovska in the tenth game. Eventually the set was pushed into a tiebreaker as
both the players broke each other one after the other at 6-6.
The head-to-head run between the two challengers lost steam during the tiebreak. Although, Date-Krumm served first for the tiebreak, she was unable to hold a point and got off to an appalling start. On the other hand, Cetkovska
was first to reach the seven point mark up and left Date-Krumm with only two points in hand. A 7-2 win in the tiebreaker, sealed the Czech’s straight sets victory and ensured a berth in the second round of the event where she will be playing local qualifier,
Erika Sema.
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