Zuzana Kucova humbles Alona Bondarenko to book spot in last eight- Budapest Grand Prix 2011
Slovakian tennis player Zuzana Kucova eased past Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday to book her place in the quarterfinal of 2011 Poli-Farbe Budapest Grand Prix in Hungary. Kucova took some time to settle in the match but once
she started to time her shots, she did not allow her opponent to breath in a match that lasted for only one hour and five minutes.
Kucova has looked in great touch sine the Women’s Tennis Association tournament has started. In the first round play, she stunned the number six seed Mathilde Johansson of France 7-6 (2), 7-5. Displaying same high quality tennis
in her second round match against Bondarenko, she booked her first WTA quarterfinal appearance of the year 2011.
Looking for a place in the last eight at the competition, Kucova made a solid start to the match as she converted a long rally in her favour to win her first point. Known for her never say die attitude, Bondarenko was also up for
the challenge as she held on to her service games to take the game score to 3-3 in the opening set. Making her first serve break of the match in eight game of the set, Kucova earned a crucial 5-3 lead, serving for the set score lead 1-0. Smashing a big forehand
winner down the line, she bagged the opening set.
The Slovakian did not allow the challenger to settle down in the following set either as she dropped only one more game to wrap up the contest. Ranked 131stin the world, Kucova played her natural game freely and pressurised
her opponent with her strong baseline strokes. Her forehand and backhand returns landed very close to the baseline, causing all sorts of problems for Bondarenko.
Hitting 63 per cent first serves and firing a blistering serve in the match, she took complete control of the things. The Slovakian saved all five break points against her suggesting that she had a rock solid defence. Dominating
the serve return department as well, she clinched nearly 50 per cent of the points at the receiving end. Bondarenko served poorly under pressure and let her opponent take control of the rallies. She will be hoping to come back strongly on her next WTA appearance.
Kucova is having a miserable time on tour this season. She fell in the qualifying rounds of Australian Open and Roland Garros. Her best performance of the year was recorded at Stuttgart, where she fell to top seed Caroline Wozniacki
in the second round. She will be looking to restore some of the lost pride with reasonable results here on the clay courts in Hungary.
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