2011 ASB Classic tournament: Yanina Wickmayer overpowers former world number one Dinara Safina
The Belgian tennis ace Yanina Wickmayer brushed aside former world number one Dinara Safina in three sets to advance at the 2011 ASB Classic tournament on Tuesday. The final match score was 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1. The clash concluded
after a time period of two hours and ten minutes in Auckland.
Regardless of the outcome of the match, the battle truly was a superb display of class and potential by both the players without any question.
"We played some amazing points, both of us. At the end of the second set we were both playing our best. I cannot say I lost the second set because I played bad it was just her that was taking over a little bit. She made three unbelievable
winners. The third set was a 50-50 chance for both of us. The start was really important to try and finish it,” reflected the second seed Yanina after the match.
The 21-year-old Belgian sealed the opening set, however world number 63 Safina, did well to improve her game in the second set to level the score in a tiebreaker.
Dinara, who is the younger sister of two-time major champion Marat, had a disappointing 2010 season after being hampered by injury. The professional tennis ace from Russia although put up a good fight against the defending champion
Yanina and did not give up till the end, however, she still failed to match her opponent’s energy, particularly in the dying stages of the match.
"She is a great player and she is playing well again. I hope for her she is going to come back and make the top 10 like she deserves to be," Wickmayer commented on Dinara after the match.
On her way to the title victory last year, Yanina was absolutely ruthless as she did not drop a single set. She is looking to build up her perfect form prior to the year’s opening Grand Slam; the Australian Open starting later
this month in Melbourne.
All the three top seeds namely Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Yanina Wickmayer will be in action on Wednesday.
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