Severine Beltrame beats Alexandra Panova in the qualifying second round of the 2011 Grand Prix De SAR
France’s Severine Beltrame defeated world number 136 Alexandra Panova of Russia in the second round of qualifying draw at the 2011 Grand Prix in Fes, Morocco. Ranked 231 in the world, Beltrame took down her opponent in three sets
6-3, 5-7, 6-3, taking two hours and twenty three minutes of play to sail into the next round of the tournament.
The 31-year-old Beltrame displayed impressive tennis skills and moved past her Russian opponent with straight sets. Beltrame and Alexandra gained an equal conversion rate of 64 percent points on their first serves. However, the
Russian surpassed her French opponent at conversion of second serves into points which turned out be the main reason of her success. Panova, who is 95 places higher than Beltrame, looked very inactive and tired during the whole match. The Russian pro has won
four ITF and one WTA title but she didn’t put her tennis skills to good use and allowed her opponent to break her serves twice in the match. The 22-year-old Panova left everyone disappointed at the stadium when she handed over the match to her lower ranked
opponent in straight sets.
Analysing the strength and weaknesses of her higher ranked opponent before entering the field, Beltrame kicked off the first set in a very aggressive fashion. She was more active and persistent in her movements and her strokes
were actually hitting their targets accurately. The French woman easily tackled her two-handed backhand opponent and broke her serves twice in the first set to clinch it 6-3.
Panova, after losing the first set, quickly composed herself and was all-set to bounce back. She hit 68 percent of her first serves and had 76 percent of points on conversion. She clinched six percent more points than her opponent
and bagged the second set with lead on equal terms.
In the deciding set, both players played equally good before the French woman delivered her last blow to her Russian opponent. The Russian hammered 64 percent of first serves and converted 56 percent on them whereas Beltrame led
her opponent with 73 percent of points on her first serves. In addition to this, she also bagged 50 percent of break points in service and 29 percent of breakpoints in return game. Breaking Panova’s serves in the fifth and second game, Beltrame clinched the
final set with a 6-3 score.
With this win, Beltrame has extended her match winning streak to five matches. She now moves on ahead to face Kristyna Pliskova of Czech Republic in the final round of qualifier. Pliskova is ranked 216 in the WTA rankings list.
She moved past Leticia Costas-Moreira of Spain to reach the final round of qualifying draw.
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