2011 French Open: Lourdes Dominguez Lino falls to Vera Zvonareva in opening round
World number three Vera Zvonareva of Russia made short work of Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain in the first round of French Open, being played at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. She defeated the Spaniard pro in straight
sets 6-3, 6-3 to secure her berth in the second round of the tournament, which is the season’s second major event following the Australian Open.
An outstanding display of physical and mental resilience from the Russian player booked her place in the second round of the French Open. The Russian ace did not drop a single set and concluded the match in 81 minutes. Being an
aggressive baseliner, Zvonareva started the opener on a very competitive note and managed to defeat her Spaniard opponent with a loss of just six games.
The contest was anticipated to be a one-sided affair and the Russian player actually proved it to be so. She fired 50 percent of her first serve and gained 56 percent on points on her first serves and 88 percent of points on her
second serves. Dominguez Lino on the other hand, registered 61 percent of her first serve, winning 57 percent of points on her first serve and 67 percent of points on her second serve respectively. Zvonareva converted one of two break point opportunities to
seal the first set 6-3.
The second set did not bring any luck for the Spaniard and she lost the second set with the same score line 6-3. Zvonareva scored 77 percent of her first serve and gained 59 percent of points on her first serve and 20 percent of
points on her second serve, whereas her opponent lagged behind with a difference of 10 points in total and handed over the match with straight sets.
By virtue of this victory, Zvonareva has improved her year-to-date win loss mark to 26-9 and now moves on ahead to face Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the second round. Zvonareva and Lisicki will be squaring off for the second time
in their careers when they meet in the second round of the French Open. Zvonareva is dominating their head-to head series 1-0. Of course, Zvonareva’s chances of winning really have more to do with Lisicki’s season performance.
The 121st ranked German has been playing mostly dreadful tennis in 2011. She at least managed to reach the quarterfinal in Stuttgart last month, but that came in between a third round defeat at the Charleston and a second
round defeat at the Prague. Zvonareva is expected to steamroller the German in straight sets.
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