Kanepi Set for Quarterfinals in Brussels
This afternoon, Kaia Kanepi (WTA 25th) will be facing Bulgarian opponent Tsvetana Pironkova (WTA 46th) in the quarterfinals of the Brussels Open.
The 26-year-old Estonian is no doubt hoping to keep up the momentum she set on Wednesday when she beat Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski with a score of 6-2, 6-2 to advance.
In both of yesterday's sets, Kanepi built up a lead of 5-0 and then dropped two games in a row before claiming the decisive break. During the 64-minute match, Kanepi served six aces and committed four double faults, while Jovanovski racked up seven double faults.
Overall, Kanepi produced a lower first serve share of 53 percent compared to Jovanovski’s 65 percent and won 63 of the 101 points played.
Kanepi's quarterfinal opponent, Pironkova, defeated the tenth seed Nadja Petrova (WTA 29th) with a score of 6-3, 6-2 to make it to today's match. Kanepi has met Pironkova on five other occasions and won the three most recent matches. In their last matchup in a Federation Cup game in 2009, Kanepi defeated Pironkova 7-6 (6), 6-2.
So far this season, Pironkova has not made it past the opening round on clay, while Kanepi recently won the clay-court tournament held in Estoril.
Sigrid Maasen