2011 19e Open GDF Suez first round results
Kaia Kanepi defeats Anastasija Sevastova 7-5(5), 6-2
World Number 17 Kaia Kanepi, Estonia’s highest rated athlete, defeated Latvian tennis pro, Anastasija Sevastova, in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-2. The match lasted just a few seconds over one hour and twelve minutes.
Sevastova is ranked World Number 36, and put up a considerable fight against her 25 year old opponent in the first set of the match.
However, despite driving Kanepi to break point multiple times, 20 year old Sevastova managed to lose the set 7-6(5). With this failure, her resolve seemed to crumble and Kanepi decimated her easily in the second set 6-2 to win the match.
Kanepi is the third seed at this Open GDF Suez in France, and has won three of her six matches so far this year. She turned pro in 2000, and is the more experienced player of the two.
Kanepi and Sevastova challenged each other in France last year, when they met at the quarterfinals of the Cagnes Sur Mer (a clay tournament). Kanepi won that match too, defeating Sevastova 7-5, 6-2. Their head to head record is now 2-0.
Kanepi will be facing Swedish player Sofia Arvidsson, or French tennis pro Alize Cornet in the next round.
Petra Kvitova defeats Vesna Manasieva 7-5, 6-4
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova took apart Russian tennis pro and World Number 114 Vesna Manasieva in two sets, defeating the Russian player 7-5, 6-4. It took the 20 year old player a little over one hour and twenty-three minutes to defeat her opponent.
Kvitova, who hails from the Czech Republic, is currently World Number 18. She turned pro four five years ago in 2006, and has become a regular fixture in the Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] top 20 rankings. She plays left handed.
Kvitova and Manasieva have met once before on the court, at the semi-finals of the Monzon tournament in 2008. Kvitova managed to defeat the 21 year old player in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 on that occasion. Their head to head record is now 2-0 to Kvitova.
Now that she has cleared the first round the fourth seed will face Barbara Zahlavova Strycov in the next round. Zahlavova Strycov defeated Tsevatana Pironkova in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round.
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