This was not a good match from Nadia. But Pfizenmaier is tricky on clay with her topspin. She was full of confidence after winning 3 qualifying matches. And she has a nice serve. Thank God Nadia won the important points. Her serve helped her. Main problem was Nadia was too slow. She definitely has to improve her footwork/movement in next match.
"She served amazing today," Petrova said. "It was really difficult for me to break, and that's why she took me to the tie-breaker in the first set. But I stayed calm and collected and I was able to win the set. Then I said, 'Okay, this is the time, step it up.' I was able to break her again to win the match.
"She made me work really hard. She's a great player. We're going to see a lot of her in the future."
Now another big test. She's 2-5 against Sveta, and has never beaten her on clay. However, this is their first meeting in three years, and Sveta's comeback so far has been uneven.
Finally Nadia beat Giorgi for the first time. Sweet revenge for Wimbledon loss last year. Nadia`s serve was on fire: 16 Aces, 3 DFs. Kuznetsova next. Very dangerous opponent for Nadia. Kuznetsova leads Head To Head 5-2. And Nadia is in poor form this year. She`s only #41 in YEC Race, while Kuznetsova is #16. A huge difference. I have zero expectations.
(11)Petrova vs. Suarez Navarro
Pavlyuchenkova vs. Oprandi
Flipkens vs. Wickmayer
BYE vs. (6)Kerber
Very tough. Carla isn't the ideal player to start a big tournament off with, although Nadia is 2-1 against her, including a 3-set victory in Rome in 2009. Petra also defeated her 1 & 0 in Dubai this year.Let's hope she keeps her focus here (you never know with Nadia!) before falling to Pavs.
Nadia has second-round points to defend. Too bad she won't go further.