Taylor Townsend stuns Lucie Hradecka to reach the second round – BNP Paribas Open 2013
16-year-old American youngster, Taylor Townsend, registered her breakthrough victory in the opening round of BNP Paribas Open on Thursday by outplaying the Czech veteran, Lucia Hradecka, in a gruelling three-setter. The 471st
ranked local wildcard entrant took two hours and 10 minutes to register a score line of 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-3, in her favour.
No one expected the world number 57, Hradecka, to fall so cheaply to an underdog contestant but an all-round brilliant performance from the American teenager surprised everyone present at the hard courts of Indian Wells, USA. The
angling serves of left-handed Townsend created a huge problem for the 27-year-old Czech veteran. Hradecka had an excellent start to the contest by bagging the opening set but then suddenly went through a terrible slump of form to let her opponent back in business.
Townsend reeled off the following two sets of the match to register a stunning victory in front of her home crowd.
"She came out playing really well," Townsend said. "I just tried to stay composed and tried to keep fighting, and that's what got me through. I just had to take it one point at a time, one point at a time - especially during the
tie-breaker I was just trying to breathe and stay as calm as I could out there. I always thought I belonged at this level. It's so surreal - it's coming to pass. It's actually very exciting, of the looming match-up. "I've watched her on TV. She's such a great
player. She has so many strengths. I think it's going to be fun - less pressure on myself."
Townsend spilled nine double faults in the match and secured 38 out of 54 first serve points en route to victory. She broke her opponent four out of seven times in the match and also fired four aces. On the other hand, Hradecka
nailed five out of eight break points in the contest but still finished on the losing side in the end. She coughed eight double faults on the most crucial moments and had to pay the price later.
The American youngster will play her second round match against the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic.
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