Vesna Dolonc slaughters Simona Halep to enter quarters – Kremlin Cup 2012
Serbian qualifier, Vesna Dolonc, devastated the Romanian star, Simona Halep, with a bagel at the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow 2012 on Thursday. She jolted down a 6-1, 6-0 victory against the world number 48 to power into the quarter-finals at this WTA (Women’s
Tennis Association) Premier event held in Moscow, Russia.
The underdog reeled off 11 games in a row to crush Halep in their second outing. The contestants previously battled each other in Saint Raphael, France two years ago and after recording this upset victory, Dolonc improved to a 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head
series against the 21-year-old at this indoor hard court event.
Dolonc was quoted in an on-court interview after conquering the Romanian:
"I had good tactics against Halep. I'm comfortable playing against her game. I was attacking her forehand and after three or four shots she would make a short ball, then I could make the point myself. I was really attacking that side. And I wasn't missing
too much today - that's another key when you play her, if you start missing, that's it. You're going to lose to her. Still, I didn't think it would go so fast and I would win, 61 60. I didn't expect it at all. I thought we would be out there for three hours
or something."
The 23-year-old high-spiritedly stepped into the Olympic Stadium in her home soil tournament. She drew the first blood in the opening game and took the initial lead. Dolonc squandered her edge in the very next game but unleashed flurry of groundstrokes,
reeling off five games in a row. She dusted away two out of three breakpoints she faced and broke her rival’s entire serves, eventually pulling out the opener with a breadstick.
Ranked 160th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Dolonc maintained her intensity in the proceeding set. She winded up all six games consecutively and clinched the set with a bagel. The Serb dusted away both breakpoints she faced and availed half of the
six break chances to steal the show.
Dolonc will face off the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic. The Serbian number one crippled the local qualifier, Valeria Solovieva, with a breadstick to progress.
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