Shahar Peer eases through Alize Cornet in the opening battle – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Israeli tennis ace, Shahar Peer, faced limited resistance from the 114th ranked French opponent, Alize Cornet, in the opening round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday. She took one hour and 33 minutes of play to
dump the 22-year-old opponent in convincing straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, advancing into the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event in Miami, Florida.
The contest was a pretty one-sided throughout, with Peer dominating most of the time, especially in the second set. Cornet posed some resistance in the opener, giving some tough time to the Israeli opponent but it was the sheer
determination of Peer which took her through to the triumph. She converted most of her opportunities in the contest and kept winning crucial points to come out as the winner in the end.
Peer’s serve precision reached 69 per cent in the match and she secured 23 out of 37 first serve points to get the better of her opponent. She had 13 break chances in the contest but only five conversions proved sufficient for
her to close out the contest in her favour. Cornet, on the other hand, cashed in two of her three break opportunities to finish on the losing side in the end.
The Israeli broke registered the first serve break of the day in the third game, fighting six deuces before taking down her opponent to lead 2-1. A further trade of serve breaks in the fifth and sixth games kept Peer’s lead intact
and she held her remaining serves to close out the set at 6-4.
Her belligerence in the second set was a worth a watch, as she stung three serve breaks to the French and won 10 out of 14 first serve points en route to victory. The set scores were 6-2 for the Israeli, granting her a spot in
the second round of the tournament.
Peer will face off against the in-form world number two, Maria Sharapova, in her next encounter of the Sony Ericsson Open. Being the second seed in the tournament draw, Sharapova was awarded a bye to have a direct access to the
second round.
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