Polina Monova slays Julia Valetova to secure a main draw spot – Siberia Cup 2011
In an all-Russian battle, fourth seed Polina Monova crippled the sixth seed Julia Valetova at the Siberia Cup 2011, first edition of the final ITF (International Tennis Federation) Women’s Circuit event of the season which is held
in Tyumen, Russia. She barely sweated to register a 6-2, 6-1 victory over her compatriot to advance into the first round on Sunday.
The higher seeded Russian deservedly qualified into the main draw after she crushed Valetova with a breadstick on their first meeting. After dominating in this 45 minutes long marathon, she not only remained on track to claim her
maiden career title but also qualified for the main draw of this indoor hard court tournament.
Ranked 669th in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier Rankings, Monova made a shaky entry on the Russian courts and gifted away her opening serve. However, she quickly recovered in the proceeding game and eventually levelled
the scores at 2-2. Afterwards, Monova outburst her skills and went on a four games rampage, sealing the opener with a 6-2 score line.
Monova kept momentum rolling into the final set as she extended her killing spree to five more games before Valetova could hold on. Later, she held her serve once more and comfortably bagged a breadstick. She defended all three
breakpoints she came across and converted two out of three break chances to her advantage.
The fourth seed made a second round berth at the Moscow and Astana ITF events, and qualified for the main draw at the Tbilisi ITF event before entering this tournament. Monova is bidding to crack into the quarter-finals but first
she has to overpower the sixth seed Veronika Kapshay in the first round.
Fifth seed Sviatlana Pirazhenka will be awaiting the Russian in the main draw. She bounced back to stun the third seed Yuliya Kalabina with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 score line on their first battle with each other. The 21-year-old Kalabina
made quickly on-roads as she broke Belarusian’s serve once and pocketed the set with a 6-3 score line. She held entire serves without facing any breakpoint and converted one out of three break chances to her advantage.
The seeded Belarusian got back in action in the second set. She exchanged an early break and then broke Kalabina’s serve in the last game to clinch the equaliser with a 6-4 score.
Pirazhenka carried her winning ways in the final set and after the Belarusian held her serve in the opening game, she bombarded powerful groundstrokes to wipe out next six games in a row, earning a breadstick.
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