Samantha Stosur slays Irina Falconi to book a spot in the third round – BNP Paribas Open 2012
Reigning US Open champion, Samantha Stosur, crushed the local star, Irina Falconi, with a bagel at the BNP Paribas Open 2012, a joint hard court event taking place in Indian Wells in California, United States. She clobbered a 6-0, 6-3 victory over the world
number 100 in the second round on Saturday.
The sixth seeded Aussie required 49 minutes to oust Falconi in straight sets in their first meeting. She lost her serve once but dominated throughout the match to advance into the round of 32 at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event.
The Australian number one, Stosur high spiritedly entered the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and held her opening serve with poise. She then hammered exquisite forehands from her box of tricks and reeled off the following five games in a row, ultimately pocketing
the set with a superb 6-0 success.
Ranked 6th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Stosur carried her momentum into the following set. Despite failing to ward off the only breakpoint she faced, the Aussie cashed in both break chances to pull out the set with a 6-3 win.
Summing up the seed’s performance, Stosur formulated a slightly lower first serve share of 59 per cent as opposed to the American’s 62 per cent but impressively clicked 19 out of 23 points on it. She also penned down an acceptable share on return and ended
the match with 51 points.
Next up for the Australian seed is the 30th seed, Nadia Petrova, who recently hired the former coach of Caroline Wozniacki. The Russian eased past the local wild card entrant, Lauren Davis, in straight sets to set-up this clash. She capitalised
on four out of six break opportunities and saved four out of five breakpoints she faced to seal the deal with a 6-3, 6-2 score line in 66 minutes.
The world number two, Maria Sharapova, also stole the show after pocketing a bagel against the Argentinean ace, Gisela Dulko. She prevailed throughout the match and broke Dulko’s serve six out of seven times. The Russian also manifested a better first serve
share of 66 per cent as compared to her rival’s 48 per cent and amazingly availed 20 out of 31 points on it.
Sharapova will next face the Romanian number one, Simona Halep, who surprised everyone after upsetting the 28th seeded Czech, Petra Cetkovska, in straight sets. Halep lost her serve three times but cashed in six out of 16 break chances to end
the match with a 6-2, 6-4 score line.
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