Sorana Cirstea downs Monica Puig in the final qualifying round of BNP Paribas Open
Twelfth seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, ejected the wildcard entrant Monica Puig of Puerto Rico in the final qualifying round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Tuesday night. It took 96 minutes for the Romanian to beat Puig at 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, winning
a pass to the main draws of the tournament.
The 20-year-old Cirstea had a sloppy start to the contest, dropping the opening set without posting much resistance. The Romanian gathered up her pace gradually to take over the next set and then cruised past the third to conclude her victory.
The serve remained relatively low in the match, as both women landed about 55 per cent first serve and took 60 per cent points with it. A total of 154 points were played, with the Romanian collecting 81 and her opponent following her with 73.
Cirstea lacked aggression at the beginning of the opener, as her opponent over took her with good attacking moves. Puig remained very proactive in the set and was agile to trace the occasional drop shots from the Romanian. She converted some net volleys
elegantly into cross-court winners and pushed her opponent to commit unforced errors.
Puig was quick to start the first set, as the 17-year-old cracked a serve break, taking a 3-0 lead. Her shot execution was perfect as she blew some thudding winners down the line. Her serve percentage was 48 for the set and it gave two opportunities to the
Romanian competitor to break her serve. Despite being broken twice in the opener, Puig kept winning crucial points and got to a commanding lead at 5-3. She broke the opponent’s serve for the fourth time to seal the first set to her name at 6-3.
An abrupt momentum swing was observed in the second set, as Cirstea caught her opponent by surprise. Although the Romanian had an ordinary first serve percentage of 50, she collected 12 out of 15 points on it. An exchange of serve breaks was seen in the
middle of the set, levelling the scores to 4-4. Cirstea rose to the occasion and stung a crucial serve break, her second one of the set. The rest was easier for the Romanian as she served out of the second set at 6-4 and brought the match on even terms.
With one set a piece, the decider was looking to be a thriller, but it went the other way round, as the third set was an all Cirstea show. The Romanian reeled of four straight games to take an impassable lead of 5-1 after stinging four serve breaks to the
opponent’s serve. Cirstea served out of the match at 6-1, ensuring an entry to the main draws of the tournament.
Cirstea will take on the world number 71, Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Twelfth seed Sorana Cirstea ejected the wildcard entrant Monica Puig of Puerto Rico in the final qualifying round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Tuesday night. It took 96 minutes for the Romanian to
beat Puig at 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, winning a pass to the main draws of the tournament.
The 20-year-old Cirstea had a sloppy start to the contest, dropping the opening set without posting much resistance. The Romanian gathered up her pace gradually to take over the next set and then cruised past the
third to conclude her victory.
The serve remained relatively low in the match. Both women landed about 55 per cent first serve and took 60 per cent points with it. A total of 154 points were played, with the Romanian collecting 81 and her opponent
following her with 73.
Cirstea lacked aggression at the beginning of the opener and her opponent over took her with good attacking moves. Puig remained very proactive in the set and was agile to trace the occasional drop shots from the
Romanian. She converted some net volleys elegantly into cross-court winners and pushed her opponent to commit unforced errors.
Puig was quick to start the first set. The 17-year-old cracked a serve break, taking a 3-0 lead. Her shot execution was perfect as she blew some thudding winners down the line. Her serve percentage was 48 for the
set and it gave two opportunities to the Romanian competitor to break her serve. Despite being broken twice in the opener, Puig kept winning crucial points and got to a commanding lead at 5-3. She broke the opponent’s serve for the fourth time to seal the
first set to her name at 6-3.
An abrupt momentum swing was observed in the second set as Cirstea caught her opponent by surprise. Although the Romanian had an ordinary first serve percentage of 50, she collected 12 out of 15 points on it. An
exchange of serve breaks was seen in the middle of the set, levelling the scores to 4-4. Cirstea rose to the occasion and stung a crucial serve break, her second one of the set. The rest was easier for the Romanian as she served out of the second set at 6-4
and brought the match on even terms.
With one set a piece, the decider was hoped to be a thriller but it went the other way round. The third set was an all- Cirstea show. The Romanian reeled of four straight games to take an impassable lead of 5-1
after stinging four serve breaks to the opponent’s serve. Cirstea served out of the match at 6-1, ensuring an entry to the main draws of the tournament.
Cirstea will take on the world number 71, Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
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