Sessil Karatantcheva overcomes Tatjana Malek in the qualifiers – Whirlpool Monterrey Open 2012
Qualifying top seed, Sessil Karatantcheva from Kazakhstan, rallied past the German contestant, Tatjana Malek, in a three set thriller at the Whirlpool Monterrey Open 2012 on Sunday. She registered 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory over the 24-year-old to advance into
the final round of the qualifying competition in this hard court tournament taking place in Monterrey, Mexico.
Ranked 132nd in the WTA rankings, Karatantcheva needed one hour and 44-minutes to tumble over the German in their first meeting. As a result, she moved a step closer towards the $220,000 event.
The 22-year-old thundered into the Sierra Madre Tennis Club and stroke out the opening three games with two breaks of serve. Despite losing her serve in the very next game, the Kazakh capitalised on another break opportunity in the seventh game and clinched
the opener with a 6-2 score line.
Malek on the other side made her presence felt in the follow-up set. With her exceptional defensive skills the German dusted away all seven breakpoints she came across and kept her entire serves. She got the coveted break in the second game and subsequently
took a 4-1 lead. Malek converted another break chance in the last game and sealed the equaliser with a 6-2 win.
The final set saw series of serve breaks but the starlet who pulled out the decider was the top seed. Karatantcheva failed to brush off all three breakpoints she faced but capitalised on five out of seven break chances to register a 6-3 score line.
Overall, the Kazakh sought 19 break opportunities and converted eight to her advantage. However, Karatantcheva saved one out of seven breakpoints she encountered and spilled 10 double faults.
Next in line for the highest ranked player in this qualifying competition is the Slovakian rising star, Romana Tabak. The Slovak bounced back from a set down to overpower Bulgaria’s Aleksandrina Naydenova in three sets. She lost her serve six times but broke
Naydenova’s serve seven times, consequently jolting down a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Fifth seeded Monica Puig slew the Spanish challenger, Ines Ferrer Suarez, in straight sets. The Puerto Rican went berserk in the opening set and reeled off all six games to bag the bagel. She carried her winning ways in the proceeding set and after cashing
in two out of five break chances, Puig won the set with a 6-4 score line.
Next challenge up for the Puerto Rican is the Swiss challenger, Amra Sadikovic, who trashed a local wild card entrant, Nadia Abdala, to reach this spot.
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