2011 French Open: Vesna Dolonts and Sabine Lisicki successful in their opening matches
Vesna Dolonts came back from a set deficit to defeat Anne Keothavong of Great Britain 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 and booked her place in the second round of 2011 French Open on Monday. The Russian tennis player showed amazing character
and temperament to down her opponent in a match that lasted for more than three hours.
Ranked 101st in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Dolonts made a shaky a start to the match. She over hit her backhand shots on a number of occasions as she gifted points to her opponent. The Brit was ready to
pounce on the available chances and made Dolonts pay heavily for her critical mistakes. In the first set Keothavong broke the serve three times as compared to only one serve break achieved by Dolonts as she claimed the opener 6-3.
The second set was played on an extremely competitive note as the players traded serve break until it went it to a tie-breaker. Dolonts displayed top quality tennis throughout the set and managed to secure four straight points
in the tie-breaker and levelled the set score 1-1. Despite having the momentum and psychological advantage on her side, the Brit was unable to convert some easy scoring opportunities as she failed to handle the heat.
The Russian continued to play her natural game free in the final set as well and broke the serve at regular intervals to ensure her strong position in the contest. She then converted the very first match point with a lovely forehand
winner to close out the match.
Dolonts first serve conversion as an impressive 61 per cent. She dominated her opponent in the serve return department as well with her powerful forehand and backhand returns. However she committed a whopping 44 unforced errors
during the match, an aspect of her, which she must work hard on to reach positive results against other top players competing at the Masters tournament.
In another match at the prestigious tournament, German Sabine Lisicki thrashed out Akqul Amanmuradova in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 to make it into the next round.
The German tennis-pro looked in a hurry in the opening set. She broke the serve three times and required only 18 minutes to pocket the opener 6-0. Amanmuradova looked completely out of sorts and managed to win only 7 points in
the set.
Lisicki continued to pressurise her opponent in the second set as well and broke the serve twice to ensure her victory in straight sets. The Uzbek did not have the firepower to win points against her opponent and committed 19 unforced
errors in the match, which played a major part in her defeat.
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