Simona Halep stuns Nadia Petrova in the opener – Kremlin Cup 2012
Simona Halep registered the biggest upset of the day when she powered down the 13th ranked Russian star, Nadia Petrova, in the opening round of the Kremlin Cup. In Moscow, both players, locked horns and despite winning the opening set, the 30-year-old Russian failed to take out the 48th ranked Romanian and lost the battle 6-3, 5-7, 5-7.
Petrova expressed her distress in the following manner, “It's a disappointing. I didn't close the match in the second set. Simona really hung in there. She was reaching unbelievable shots; shots I hit that I was sure were winners she would get back somehow. She got back that extra ball and that made it tough for me.”
Halep will definitely benefit from this victory. She has tied the head-to-head scores against Petrova with two wins apiece. All four battles are contested in the current season and the 21-year-old Romanian won the first clash in Sony Ericsson Open at Miami but failed to deliver in the following two, contested in US Open and Toray Pan Pacific Open. However, the fighting spirit shown by her on Tuesday was exclusive and deserved all the acclaim.
Petrova took a resounding lead of 4-1 in the opening set courtesy to two breakpoints. She lost a breakthrough in between but squeezed another one to her tally to end the first phase in quick succession.
The second battle witnessed a series of breakpoints that were followed up by the first game serve hold by the 30-year-old Russian. Scores were tied at 5-5 and Halep sneaked another breakthrough in the following game and held her serve after a bit of struggle to enforce the final set.
Petrova, the sixth seed Russian, started the second set in dismal fashion. She lost two breakthroughs in a row at the start. However, she pulled back and equalized the scores in the sixth game. Halep continued the good work and just like the second set, stole a breakpoint in the 11th game and followed it up with a serve hold to register the most astonishing upset.
Simona Halep and Vesna Dolonc will play for the quarter-final spot on Tuesday.
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