Yanina Wickmayer crushes Kaia Kanepi in the first round of 2011 Brussels Ladies Open
Tuesday was a very successful day for the Belgian Yanina Wickmayer who progressed into the second round after defeating Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in three sets at the Royal Primrose Tennis Club in Brussels, Belgium.
The world number 22 delighted the home fans by clawing out a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win taking not more than two hours and eight minutes.
Wickmayer started off the match with a very positive approach. She held on to her serves and made the decisive serve break in the sixth game to take the first set with a breadstick. The 22-year-old saved 100 percent breakpoints
and breezed through the one-sided first set with utmost ease. She used her forehands and backhands to perfection and didn’t allow her Estonian opponent to get the better of her.
Ranked 16th in the world, Kanepi played extremely well in the second set and fought her way back into the match. She served and returned to perfection and did not allow her Belgian opponent to take the early advantage
again. Kanepi got through to the second set with majority of scores and Wickmayer, did not have such an easy road through.
Kanepi quickly stacked up a 4-1 lead in the second set, before Wickmayer managed to push herself to three games. Wickmayer was not tight enough as Kanepi kept picking her up and winning rally after rally. The Belgian pro suffered
considerable trouble due to her opponent’s brilliant shots, and finally lost the second set 6-4.
In the decider both players held their serves enroute to 4-4, at which points things started to get interesting. The sixteenth-ranked Belgian though, gave it right back for 4-5 only to break again in the eleventh game. Aside from
her one service hiccup, Wickmayer had no trouble on serve throughout the set and she closed it out with ease at 7-5.
Wickmayer wrapped up the match with 61 percent on service, 47 percent on return and 54 percent on points in total. Kanepi on the other finished off the match with 53 percent on service, 39 percent on return and 46 percent in total.
Kanepi would be very disappointed at letting the opportunity slip away after she was in control of the situation in the second set.
Wickmayer now moves on ahead to face compatriot Alison Van Uytvanck in the second round of the tournament. Uytvanck, who is a qualifier at the tournament, reached the second round after defeating Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in
the first round of the tournament. It seems quite an impossible task for Uytvanck to take down the world number twenty two in the second round. However, if she brings her excellent form at the second round, things could go either way.
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