Richel Hogenkamp deposes
Lucia Butkovská in 1st round – Slovak Open 2011
Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp defeated Lithuanian qualifier Lucia Butkovská in the first round of the Slovak Open 2011.
At the Národné Tenisové Centrum in Bratislava, Slovakia, the two competitors took up the gauntlet on indoor hard courts and after just sixty eight minutes the Dutch qualifier brought the downfall of the Lithuanian qualifier by
hammering her in straight sets of 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday the 15th of November 2011.
Even though, it was a tough competition and both the players were extremely competitive, the Dutch qualifier managed to dominate both the sets. Moreover, Hogenkamp was only able to hit 60 percent of her first serves on target but
managed to accomplish a 71 percent of her first service points won during the entire match
In addition, she had a stronger defence and was able to save a 67 percent of her breakpoints along with bagging a 43 percent of her break points won. Out of the 127 total points in the match Hogenkamp was able to bag 66 points
while, Butkovská was only limited to 60 points won.
Butkovská served first and she got to an appalling start as she was unable to hold her respective serve. On the other hand, Hogenkamp clogged two successive games and took the mini lead on the scoreboard at the end of the second
game. During the third and the fourth game both the players expertly handled their respective serves to shift the score to 3-1 at the end of the fourth game.
It was in the fifth game that Butkovska was broken for the second time and as Hogenkamp held her serve she stamped her lead and was now only a game away from victory at the end of the sixth game.
However, she was unable to close the set in following three games, while, Butkovska had reduced the deficit to 5-4 as she bagged three consecutive games with a series of holds and a break at the end of the ninth game. As Hogenkamp
held her serve for the last time, she secured the opening set with a 6-4 victory.
The second set saw Butkovska take a notch higher in her performance and as she smashed a beautiful backhand winner, she secured the opening game. Following behind was Hogenkamp and she too bagged a game on her service game to place
herself on the scoreboard at 1-1.
With a single break in the third game, Hogenkamp reeled of two straight games to take a mini lead of 3-1 at the end of the fourth game. From there onwards, the players matched a blow for a blow and neither of the players wanted
the other to take a lead. As each challenger kept bagging her service game, the score had shifted to 5-3 at the end of the eighth game.
In the last two games, the two once more held their serves for the last time, as Hogenkamp had managed to seal her victory of the match. In doing so; she reserved a spot in the second round of the tournament where she will be facing
eighth seeded Czech Kristýna Plíšková.
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