Shahar Peer crushes Fatma Al Nabhani in round one – Dubai Duty Free Championships 2012
Israeli tennis icon, Shahar Peer, dumped the 20-years-old Omani contestant, Fatma Al Nabhani, in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in the opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Championship, contested in Dubai.
On Monday, both contestants battled for an hour before the Israeli contender cracked her counterpart for her first head-to-head win in their maiden face-off. Peer won 58 points; nagging 59% of the total points played that
shows her level of domination at Decoturf II, UAE.
The contest was started with a swap of breakpoints upfront before the players settled down and registered successive successful serve holds. Scores moved on to three games apiece with both players meeting blow-by-blow and
not allowing their counterparts to take hold of the proceedings.
Both of them were eyeing a critical breakthrough that will inch their nose ahead of their counterpart at the ending stages of the opening set. It is always vital to take the first set and impose a ‘do or die’ scenario upon
your opponent.
Peer was the one with the experience at her back to perform the heroics and she stepped up to the situation; broke serve in the seventh game and coupled it with a successful hold to consolidate the lead of 5-3.
Nabhani failed to absorb the pressure and faulted on her serve that gifted the first set to her opponent, making it extremely difficult for her to bounce back from such a dismal state.
The effect of the first set onslaught highlighted in the second as well with the Israeli contestant breaking her opponent’s serve in the second game and taking 3-0 in quick succession. It was getting pretty ominous for the
Omani contender who was could only hold her serve once before Peer gobbled up the second set; a couple of breakpoints and four successive holds did the job for the Israeli.
Peer starts her tournament with flying colours and steps into the second round where she awaits the winner of the clash between the fifth seed Pole, Agnieszka Radwanska, and one of the qualifiers.
Petra Kvitova pulls out of Dubai Duty Free Championship due to illness.
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