Zarah Razafimahatratra slays Estelle Cascino to grab title – Potchefstroom ITF 2012
Madagascar’s Zarah Razafimahatratra devastated the seventh seed, Estelle Cascino from France, with a bagel at the Potchefstroom ITF 2012 on Sunday. She jolted down a 7-6(5), 6-0 victory against the seeded French to grab the title at this outdoor hard court tournament taking place in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Seeded fifth in this event, Razafimahatratra barely sweated in the final set to carve out the victory in almost an hour-long venture. Battling each other for the first time, the Madagascar challenger comfortably shelved the title and gained confidence boost.
Both starlets displayed awe-inspiring skills after entering the Fanie du Toit Sports Stadium in the opening set. Razafimahatratra capitalised on two break chances and jumped to a 5-1 lead. Apart from losing her edge and levelling the scores in the 10th game, the Madagascar rising star remained calm and took the set to a tie-breaker. She dominated in it before closing out the opener with a 7-6(5) score line.
Ranked 756th in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Razafimahatratra kept her momentum floating towards the following set. After drawing the first blood in the opening game, the Madagascar challenger lifted her game and went berserk. She reeled off all six games consecutively and eventually clinched the set with a bagel. Razafimahatratra blocked both breakpoints she came across and capitalised on three out of five break chances to achieve her goal.
The 18-year-old trashed the home favourite, Ilze Hattingh, in straight sets to reach this final spot. She jolted down a 6-3, 6-2 victory in almost an hour and 15 minutes. Razafimahatratra also received a walkover against the top seed, Chanel Simmonds, in the quarter-finals.
The Madagascar starlet lost the only set in this tournament against Ecuador’s Charlotte Roemer. She made a drastic entry at these South African hard courts but remained focused, eventually carving out the victory with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 score line.
Cascino on the other end needed three sets to overpower the American challenger, Stephanie Kent. She suffered a breadstick in the second set. However, the 16-year-old re-gained her strength and eventually clinched the match with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 score line.
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