Rebecca Marino defeats Petra Cetkovska in the final qualifiers of BNP Paribas Open
Top seed Rebecca Marino defeated Petra Cetkovska of Czech Republic in the final qualifiers of the BNP Paribas Open in Indiana Wells on Tuesday night. The Canadian won the three-set contest 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in one hour and fifty one minutes to qualify for the
main draws at the Paribas Open.
Marino’s victory over the unseeded Czech was hardly unexpected. The top seed exhibited her brilliant tennis skills in the contest to book a berth in the main draws at Indiana Wells. The Canadian dropped the second set after she won the opener but recovered
very well to regain advantage in the third.
The 20-year-old Canadian dominated throughout the contest except the error-ridden second set. Her serve percentage for the match remained 51 and she belted seven aces. Marino’s six double faults in the game are quite alarming as such a high figure of unforced
errors can spoil her results in future matches of the tournament.
Cetkovska delivered her first serve with 63 per cent accuracy but she lacked the ability to bag points on crucial occasions. The 26-year-old Czech won 40 out of 51 serve points in the game and converted merely 48 per cent of return points.
The top seed ignited the match with aggression, breaking the opponent’s serve immediately to lead 3-0 in the opener. She took 16 of 20 first serve points and denied her opponent from serve breaks on five different occasions in the set. Cetkovska cracked
a serve break to cut the deficit to 3-4 but the Canadian broke back in the very next game to lead 5-3. Marino served out of the first set comprehensively 6-3.
The momentum swung in favour of Cetkovska in the second set. The Czech won 71 per cent of her serve points and provided no opportunity to her opponent to break serve. Cetkovska broke early to lead 3-0 in the second set. Her opponent appeared in all sorts
of confusion and missed some easy convertible opportunities. A second serve break at 5-1 left the 26-year-old Czech serving for the match. Cetkovska levelled the match by winning the second set at 6-1.
Tide turned in the decisive set as the top seeded Canadian had an impactful comeback. Her aggression was equally met by Cetkovska and the two contestants exchanged a total of four serve breaks in the opening five games of the third set. Marino cracked four
break points in the set to seal victory at 6-2, making it to the main draws.
Although Marino cruised past the qualifying draws, her abilities will have to pass the real test in the main round draws of the BNP Paribas Open. Marino’s first round matchup is with World no. 41 Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova of Russia.
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