Sara Errani stoops to Kateryna Bondarenko in round one – UNICEF Open 2012
French Open 2012 finalist, Sara Errani, witnessed an opening round exit at the UNICEF Open; stooping to the 67th ranked Ukrainian contender, Kateryna Bondarenko, on the eve of Monday. The Italian starlet won the opening
set 7-5 but lost the following two 3-6, 4-6 the earliest exit in any tournament for the Italian this year.
Errani was the second seeded contestant in the tournament but her stay only lasted for an hour and 55 minutes at the grass courts of s-Hertogenbosch. Both players had played five matches with each other so far. So, both players
knew the game style of their rivals. It was expected to be a tight contest and it met the expectations of the spectators.
Bondarenko was trailing the head-to-head scores by 2-3 but this triumph puts her level with the Italian. Moreover, it was a perfect reply to the earlier loss in the Federation Cup tie for the Ukrainian in February. So, all accounts
were settled by the 25-year-old Ukrainian with this victory.
Errani started off with a break serve and took a lead of 2-0 at the beginning of the match. However, the Ukrainian fought back into the contest and won the following two games including a breakthrough to level the scores.
With a gap of just two games, the second seed Italian won another breakpoint to reinstate the lead that was diminished by her rival in the 10th game of the set. However, the resistance of the 25-year-old Ukrainian was
ended in the 11th game when Errani won another breakpoint and held her serve to take the set lead.
The second set witnessed a couple of early breakthroughs for both players that kept the scores together at 2-2. Another swap of breakpoints further pushed the scores to 4-3 in favour of the Ukrainian who broke serve for the fourth
time in the set to post a crucial lead of 5-3. She was tested in the final game of the match but did well to hold on and enforce the final set.
Errani looked determined to power down her opponent and started aggressively but her strategy backfired. Her serve was broken in the opening game and Bondarenko did well to build a two games lead at the start.
The second seed Italian forced her way back into the match with a breakthrough in the eighth game but her rival quickly reinstated the lead back with a breakpoint in the ninth game. The Ukrainian held her serve in the final game
of the match to book a date with the former world number one from Belgium, Kim Clijsters.
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