Urszula Radwanska slays Anastasia Pivovarova in the opening round – PTT Pattaya Open 2012
Polish challenger, Urszula Radwanska, trashed the Russian competitor, Anastasia Pivovarova, with a breadstick at the PTT Pattaya Open 2012 on Tuesday. She clobbered a 6-4, 6-1 victory over the world number 140 to secure a place in the second round at this
hard court tournament taking place in Pattaya City, Thailand.
The 21-year-old required 74-minutes to slaughter the Russian in straight sets at the Dusit Thani Hotel in their first meeting. She not only moved a step closer to grab her maiden WTA title but also booked a spot in the round of 16.
85th ranked Pole made a shaky entry in the opening set and lost her opening two serves to go 3-0 down. However, she lowered her trail by snatching a break back in the fourth game. Radwanska eventually recovered in the eighth game and capitalised
on her third break chance in the last game, ultimately sealing the opener by winning six games to four.
The German-born Radwanska kept momentum running into the last set and earned the coveted break in the second game. Regardless of losing her serve in the third game, Radwanska maintained her intensity and bagged the last four games successively, subsequently
registering an assuring 6-1 score line.
Overall, the Pole had a bumpy start of the match. However, she went into the overdrive mode and after cashing in all six break chances, Radwanska sacked this match.
Next up for the higher ranked player is the third seed, Daniela Hantuchova. She slew the local wild card entrant, Nungnadda Wannasuk, with a bagel to set-up this meeting.
Later that day, second seed Dominika Cibulkova was shocked by the British veteran, Anne Keothavong, in straight sets. The 22-year-old Slovak warded off six out of eleven breakpoints she came across and cashed in one out of six break opportunities to suffer
a 4-6, 1-6 defeat in 82 minutes.
"I didn't have too many expectations going in to today's match as I felt a little under-cooked having only arrived yesterday from Fed Cup in Israel but I surprised myself," the delighted British said about her amazing victory. "The courts are super fast
here and it's hot and humid. Cibulkova only arrived yesterday too but I think the courts favoured my game more and I was quicker to adjust."
Keothavong on the other hand advanced into the second round at this tournament. She will face the Indian icon, Sania Mirza, who bounced back to outshine the Japanese star, Ayumi Morita, in a three set thriller to secure this spot.
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