Tsvetana Pironkova dumps Lesia Tsurenko to reach the quarters – Swedish Open 2012
World number 62, Tsvetana Pironkova, booked a berth in the quarter-final of the Sony Ericsson Swedish Open with straight sets victory, 7-5, 6-3, over the Ukrainian born professional, Lesia Tsurenko, in just over an hour and 23
minutes.
It was a commanding triumph for the 24-year-old Bulgarian who looked in no trouble at all throughout the encounter. This was the second battle between the two contenders and the 62nd ranked Bulgarian had already won
the first match.
So, it was obvious that she will dominate the proceedings especially considering the gap between the rankings of the two players. Pironkova is not a seeded player in the tournament but has already reached the last eight stage of
the tournament so that is a massive achievement for someone who has stayed out of touch for quite a long time.
The 23-year-old Ukrainian looked good at the start. She fought well throughout the first set; traded breakpoints on two occurrences and didn’t fall back once in the first 10 games. However, her resistance was broken in the 12th
game of the match when she was powered down for the third successive serve game.
It was a disappointing end to the promising start for the 110th ranked Ukrainian who was supposed to at least enforce a tie-breaker round in the opening set after registering such a massive show at the start.
Both players won 38 points in the end that shows the proximity of their play at the clay courts of Bastad, Sweden. However, the critical breakpoint that differentiated the winner from the loser went in favour of the Bulgarian who
was the deserving winner in the end of the opening battle.
The second set was purely a major let-off for the viewers who were expecting another startling show from the two contenders. Pironkova dominated the proceedings for most of the time and didn’t ease pressure on her rival who was
already trailing a set down.
With two successive breakpoints in the dying stages of the second set, the 24-year-old Bulgarian bagged the triumph and booked her place in the list of the final eight warriors in the tournament.
Next battle for the Bulgarian will begin on the eve of Thursday when she will lock horns with the upset queen, Polona Hercog from Slovenia. Hercog ousted the second seed German, Julia Goerges, in the second round of the contest
to book a date with the Bulgarian. So, apparently it is a must watch match-up for the spectators.
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