Shuai Peng plonks Lucie Hradecka in the second round – ASB Classic 2012
Chinese second seed, Shuai Peng butchered her Czech competitor, Lucie Hradecka, in the second round of the ASB Classic tournament, contested in Auckland, New Zealand. On Wednesday, both players squared off for the second
time in their professional career and Peng had her revenge of the last year’s Indian Wells ‘s loss by defeating her opponent in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 13 minutes to move into the last eight of the tournament.
A very inconsistent season last year saw both players with some mixed results. Last nine recent encounters predict the same for both players as their results were completely rambling. Hradecka was in search of the desperate
win to start off the season in style and Chinese second seed was eyeing for a positive outcome from the match. The effort in the match clearly showed that Chinese tennis ace was hungrier for a triumph than her Czech competitor.
Conventional start to the match saw both players handing on to their respective serves upfront. The first major break was won by the Chinese prolific performer as she managed to smash eye-startling winners down the line which
were almost unplayable for her opponent. Peng continued her dominance in the game to push her opponent on her back foot.
A vital break of serve in the third game proved sufficient for the second seed to bag the first set and make a strong impact. On paper it was an easy battle for Peng and her performance completely coincided with the predictions.
Trailing one set down and looking extremely dismal with her control over serve games, Czech needed to show a bit more composure but she failed to cope with the conditions.
It was another tamed performance by Hradecka in the second set as she seemed to have lost faith in her capabilities; half-hearted shots that made no impact whatsoever were the feature of her disappointing game. Second set
witnessed both players hanging on to their respective serves in the first two games. Chinese smashed the fourth gear in the third game and broke her opponent’s serve. Next few games were held by respective serve players and the score went to 5-3 in favour
of Chinese.
Another outstanding performance in the ninth game of the set featured some breathtaking winners from the second seed; she went on to bamboozle her opponent with a final drop shot and won the finishing break to seal the second
set and placed a berth in the round of eight.
Shuai Peng faces Jie Zheng in the quarter-final of the tournament.
Tags: