Venus Williams jolts down Mona Barthel to enter quarters – BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open 2012
Former world number one, Venus Williams, got the better of the ninth seed, Mona Barthel, in straight sets at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open 2012 on Thursday. She juggled up a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory against the world number 37 to progress into the last eight at this indoor hard court event taking place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
The American icon showed top notch skills to oust Barthel in their first encounter. After earning the fame in one hour and 42 minutes, Williams edged in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against the 22-year-old and inched closer towards her 44th career title.
Williams was quoted in a courtside interview after triumphing over the German:
"At 4-0 in the first set, I thought I had the set. Then I started to miss a few shots and she made a few more and the lead was gone. I made sure I stayed positive, though, and I think this helped me get the set in the end. I had a lead again in the second, but she was so tough and never gave up. The courts are playing a bit slow and Mona has great defence, so the ball just kept coming back and coming back. She made it so tough but I had to be patient and I'm happy with the result."
The 32-year-old thundered into this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International event. She went on a four-game killing spree and jumped to a 4-0 lead. Despite squandering her edge and levelling the scores in the 10th game, the American remained focused and took the set to a tie-breaker. She unveiled her form again and clicked the opener with a 7-6(4) win.
Currently ranked 41st in the WTA Premier Rankings, Williams maintained her intensity in the following set. She drew the first blood in the second game and leaped to a 3-0 lead. The American lost her edge in the fifth game but broke her rival’s serve again, eventually taking a 4-2 lead. Despite squandering her serve once more in the very next game, Williams cashed another break chance in the last game, consequently sealing the set by winning six games to four.
Next in queue for Williams is the top seed, Roberta Vinci from Italy.
Tags: