Yanina Wickmayer strains past Mona Barthel to reach the semis – Open GDF Suez 2012
World number 29, Yanina Wickmayer, finally halted the amazing run of the German qualifier, Mona Barthel, in the quarter-final brawl at the Open GDF Suez on Friday night. The unseeded Belgian tennis ace fought for two hours and
34 minutes of play before wrapping up the three-setter at 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, marching into the semi-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International tournament.
The crowd at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, France, witnessed an amazing display of indoor hard-court tennis from the two immensely talented competitors. Both of these young players had 1-1 in their head-to-head tally
prior to their match on Friday. It was Barthel who outplayed Wickmayer in their last meeting in the final of the Hobart International in January this year. The 21-year-old German outshined Wickmayer in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, to claim her maiden WTA championship
title last month but couldn’t reproduce the similar magic in the quarter-final of Open GDF Suez.
Wickmayer stamped her authority early in the match by pocketing the opening set with ease. She was well on course of a straight sets victory but a brilliant turnaround from Barthel in the second set extended the matchup into the
third set. The unseeded Belgian kept her focus in the pressure situation and outplayed Barthel in the decisive set to lead 2-1 over her in the all-time combats.
Despite of coughing eight double faults and suffering 11 cracking aces in the match, Wickmayer kept winning crucial points all the way to come out as the winner. She had 19 break opportunities in the contest and converted six out
of them to drive her opponent out of the three-setter in a convincing fashion.
Wickmayer will square off against the ninth seed German opponent, Angelique Kerber, in the semi-final round of the tournament on Saturday night. Kerber pulled up a huge upset in the quarter-finals when she beat all the odds to
defeat the reigning world number three, Maria Sharapova of Russia, with a twin-set win, 6-4, 6-4, to stun everyone around the world. The in-form Sharapova was the finalist at the Australian Open a week ago and register an explosive 6-3, 6-1, win against Chanelle
Scheepers in her second round clash of Open GDF Suez. The brilliance of the former world number one was maligned by an outstanding performance from Kerber in the quarter-final, giving her a berth in the semis of the tournament in Paris.
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