Petra Martic makes a meal of Simona Halep in the second round – e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open 2011
Petra Martic struggled past Simona Halep from Romania 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinal of the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open on Thursday.
The Romanian acquitted herself well against her more decorated and well equipped opponent. Her attacking tennis in the beginning stages of the game, gave Martic a lot to think about. Halep was the one, who was more aggressive in
the first three games of the set, but Martic brought her entire arsenal to snatch the first break after handful of Halep’s errors. Continuing her ascent, Martic began to let loose and toyed with Halep, pulling her this way and that with her majestic angles.
Her artistry gave her the next three games with little fuss as she won the first set 6-3.
Nonetheless, Halep was not finished yet. Her game moved from indecision to precision and suddenly she was responding to her opponent’s magnificent shots with great interest. Martic, who is only 20-years-old, started to panic and
hesitate as the Romanian battered her way towards the second set.
However, as the third set unfolded, Martic managed to regain her lost form and began to dominate, standing well inside the baseline and responding to Romanian’s perfect shots with some great ease. Martic was playing like a woman
free of shackles, apparently unaware that her opponent was ranked 52 places above her. The 20-year-old Martic stormed through the first five games to nab a 5-0 lead. Although Martic’s proceedings were temporarily hindered when Halep won her first games in
a row, the Croat stayed in control to close out the match with some of her brutal hitting.
The talented Croat wrapped up her victory with some idiosyncratic shots and gusty play. She concluded the match with a whopping 12 twelve aces and 5 double faults. As well as, she won 57 percent of points on her service, 45 percent
of points on return and 51 percent of points in total.
Martic expressed her views in a post-match interview saying, "It didn't really matter how I won this match, it just mattered which one of us did it, at 5-1 in the second set suddenly she started playing better. I had a breakdown
at the end of that set. In the end my fighting won, that's all."
Awaiting her there in the quarterfinals of the e-Boks Sony Ericsson open will be the Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko. Both players are in great form and will look to extend their runs at the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open, as they take to
the court against each other on Thursday.
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