Zuzana Kucova stuns Mathilde Johansson to advance into second round – Budapest Grand Prix 2011
Slovak Zuzana Kucova upset sixth seeded French Mathilde Johansson in straight sets at Women’s Singles – POLI-FARBE Grand Prix, an International level WTA Premier event held in Budapest, Hungary. She registered a 7-6(2), 7-5 victory
over the 26-year-old Frenchwoman in troublesome two sets to advance into the second round on Tuesday.
Ranked 131st in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier rankings, Kucova outmuscled the Frenchwoman, ranked 67 places below her, in almost two hours in their fourth meeting. She lost in their first two meetings but won for the
first time at Bari last year. After earning this success, the Slovak not only levelled the head-to-head series by 2-2 but also secured a second round spot in this clay court event.
Both players played their best tennis in the opening set as they exchanged series of breaks and levelled each other out. Kucova, however, committed fewer double faults and clobbered a higher first serve share of 79 percent as compared
to Johansson’s 63 percent. She converted four out of five breakpoint chances to her advantage but saved three out of seven breakpoints conceded. As a result, the set went to a tie-breaker where the Slovak dominated to seal the opener with a 7-6(2) win.
29-year-old Kucova kept momentum sailing into the final set as she smoothly held her opening serve by rolling the balls expertly onto the lines. With her amazing defensive skills, she saved both breakpoints conceded and capitalised
on three out of eight breakpoint chances to her advantage to clinch the set with a 7-5 win. The Slovak again committed fewer double faults and clobbered a higher first serve share of 76 percent as compared to Frenchwoman’s 62 percent.
"It was a very close match," said Kucova, who did not seal the match until her fifth match point. "In the first set, I was fighting for every point and took advantage of my chances in the tie-break."
The Slovak, who had a drastic season so far, will next face a former top twenty player, Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.
"I expect a tough match," Kucova said. "She is a good player. I will have to play really good tennis to beat her."
The Ukrainian, ranked one place above her, slew Czech Sandra Zahlavova with a bagel and a breadstick earlier that day to reach this spot. She saved all three breakpoints conceded and converted six out of fifteen breakpoint opportunities
to her advantage to seal the match with an assuring 6-0, 6-1 victory in under an hour. Bondarenko also clobbered a higher first serve share of 63 percent as compared to Czech’s 57 percent and earned a fabulous 75 percent win on it.
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