2011 French Open: Kaia Kanepi thrashes out Sofia Arvidsson to reach the second round
Sixteenth seed Kaia Kanepi thrashed out Swede Sofia Arvidsson 7-5, 6-1 on Monday to advance into the second round of 2011 French Open tennis tournament. The Estonian tennis pro broke the challenger at regular intervals and required
only one hour and eleven minutes to close out the match.
Kanepi struggled to time the tennis ball early on but as the match progressed she started to feel the ball a lot better. She broke the serve twice in the opener to gain considerable psychological advantage. Arvidsson broke back
once but she failed to stop her from earning a well deserved set score lead 1-0. Kanepi’s controlled serves allowed her to dictate terms in the contest.
The second set, however, proved to be completely one sided as Kanepi did not allow her opponent to breath. She smashed her lovely forehand and backhand winner all over the court and made Arvidsson run for the money. With three
breaks of serves in the set, Kanepi established complete control over the contest and then converted one of the match points to end her opponent miserable stay on the court.
Ranked 16th in the world, Kanepi’s controlled game play allowed her to attack her opponent at will. Besides her attacking abilities, she had a rock solid defence as well that allowed her to play her natural game with
freedom. With her powerful and on-target serves, Kanepi managed to claim 65 percent points on her first serve. She also smashed 23 winners as compared to only 13 by her opponent.
Arvidsson started off nicely but with time her game play faded away and she started to commit unforced errors. She put up a good fight to stay in the match but lacked the fire power in crucial aspects of the game. The Swede was
disappointed with the results of the match and aimed to make a strong come back at her next Women’s Tennis Association appearance.
The running season has turned out to be a reasonable one for the 25-year-old Kanepi. She started the year on a positive note by making it to the second round of 2011 Australian Open. At 2011 Paris indoors, she reached the semi-final
and rose in the WTA rankings form world number 17 from world number 21. She then managed to yield positive results from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, BNP Paribas Open as well.
However, in the last few tournaments she has participated in, she has not been able to find her form and experienced early round losses. She will be looking to put up a better show here at Roland Garros by reaching the final stages
of the Majors tournament.
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