Petra Martic beats Patricia Mayr-Achleitner to reach the quarters - Generali Ladies Linz 2012
World number 64, Petra Martic, ousted the 159th ranked Austrian, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, in the second round of the Generali Ladies Linz on Thursday. She dispatched the local favourite in an hour and 26 minutes; registering
the score line of 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.
It was the fourth battle between the two athletes and the previous two were won by the 25-year-old Austrian but the difference of rankings and the form of Martic lowered the chances of any upset. The 21-year-old Croatian had her
revenge and levelled the head-to-head scores at 2-2 courtesy this triumph.
The opening set witnessed a flurry of breakthroughs; four of them in the first five games that gave an unassailable lead of 4-1 to the visitor. Martic held her serve in the following game without losing a point that moved the scores
to 5-1.
It was just a matter of time before the Croatian bagged the first phase of the match. She had to earn her points in the final game, however, didn’t had to face any damage despite a very firm resistance showed by Achleitner.
The second set started in the most fascinating fashion especially for the home crowd. The local diva took revenge of the first set battering by winning two back-to-back breakpoints in the fourth and sixth game that piled a stupendous
trail of 1-5 on her rival.
Achleitner was serving for the set but suddenly lost control on her serves probably due to the scoreboard pressure; couldn’t win a single point in the whole game. However, the second chance wasn’t wasted by the 159th
ranked Austrian who enforced the final set into play.
Fans in the arena were expecting a gruelling contest in the end but witnessed one-sided battering from the visitor who shattered the dreams of her opponent into pieces by registering an embarrassing bagel. Martic won three breakpoints
in a row and didn’t allow her opponent to bounce back at all. She made no mistakes on her serves and booked a berth in the last eight of the contest.
Next up for Petra Martic is the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus.
Tags: