2011 French Open: Gisela Dulko triumphs over Irina Falconi in the first round
Argentine tennis star Gisela Dulko continued her impressive run on the clay surfaces as she thrashed out Irina Falconi of United States 6-3, 6-4 to advance into the second round of 2011 French Open in Paris. Dulko looked to be
in commanding form in her opening match at the Majors tournament and required only 1 hour and 17 minutes dispatching her opponent.
The 26-year-old Dulko made an aggressive start to the match as she broke the serve early in the opening set to dent her opponent’s confidence levels. Her first serve conversion in the opener was an excellent 88 per cent which allowed
her to dictate terms in the contest. She broke the serve three times in the set to establish complete control over the situation and took the set with the scoreline of 6-3.
The second set also followed a similar trend as the contestants struggled to hold on to their serve games. Falconi showed amazing fighting spirit and determination as she broke Dulko twice in the set. However, the Argentine denied
her entry into the contest by breaking the serve three times which ensured her straight sets victory.
Dulko served with control and secured 67 per cent of the points on her first serve. She had her fair share of dominance in the serve return department as well with more than 52 per cent of the points. Her break points conversion
rate was also on the higher side as she claimed six out eleven break points during the match.
“I played pretty well. I think the nerves came at the end,” said Dulko, adding, that she always felt playing,”
Her rival, Falconi had a weak serve and leaked points at crucial moments. She struggled to time the ball and committed 31 unforced errors in the match, which proved to be the main difference between the two players.
The running season has proved to be quite a reasonable one for the Argentine tennis-pro. It seems that Dulko has a special liking for the clay surface as she gave astonishing performances on her favourite surface throughout the
year including her fourth Women’s Tennis Association triumph at 2011 Mexican Open. However, in her last two tournaments on the tour, at Madrid and in Rome, she struggled to find her form and experienced early round losses. She will be looking to yield positive
results here at the prestigious Grand Slam tournament to earn valuable ranking points.
Talking to the press after the match, Dulko said, “I didn’t had a good tour in Madrid and Rome, but took a few days to train and I’m feeling very comfortable.”
In her next match-up at Roland Garros, Dulko will take on world number 36 Tsvetana Pironkova.
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