Polona Hercog defeats Alexandra Dulgheru to reach the second round at Internazionali BNL D’Italia
Slovakian tennis player Polona Hercog ousted Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 6-1, 7-5 on Monday in the first round of 2011 Internazionali BNL D’Italia in Rome.
Although Hercog struggled to achieve significant results in the Women’s Tennis Association arena since the start of this season, she has certainly given considerable performances on the ITF circuit. Her best performance was recorded at 2011 Monterrey Open where she made it all the way to the semi-final. The start of the season was also quite disappointing for the world number 69 as she was thrashed out in the opening round of 2011 Australian Open. Hercog struggled to find her form at BNP Paribas Open and Sony Ericsson Open as well as she was knocked out from the first rounds of both tournaments.
Defeating a player of Dulgheru’s calibre will lift her spirits and help her restore her lost pride. Entering the tournament as a qualifier, Hercog looked to attack right from the start. She made excellent moves on the court and troubled the Romanian with some high quality tennis. Her on-target and accurate serve proved to be the main difference between the two contestants as she reached 70 percent first serve conversion.
Dulgheru made a very shaky start to the match as she miss timed her forehand and backhand shots on several occasions. The 21-year-old put up a solid fight in the second set but the effort came too late as Hercog completed her win in straight sets. Hercog on the other hand, was quick to pounce on available opportunities and made her opponent pay for her mistakes.
The first set was completely dominated by Hercog as she broke the serve twice to establish her strong position in the contest. The Slovakian claimed 26 out of 32 points in the opener and converted the very first set point to take the set score lead 1-0.
In the following set, Dulgheru made a good come back. She broke the serve in one of the games to shift the balance of the match but Hercog broke back immediately with a double serve break to ensure her victory in straight sets. Dulgheru saved a couple of break points before scooping a forehand shot outside the lines to end the match that lasted for only one hour and 28 minutes.
Hercog was extremely delighted at her victory over world number 29 Dulgheru. She dominated her opponent in almost all areas of the game and secured 54 per cent points on serve return to dent her opponent’s confidence level. In her next match-up at the red clay courts tournament, she will take on Daniela Hantuchova who made quick work of Bulagrian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-2.
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