2011 Hopman Cup: Francesca Schiavone topples Laura Robson; gives Italy a lead of 1-0
The Italian tennis ace Francesca Schiavone got the better of Great Britain's Laura Robson in two sets to provide her country a lead of 1-0 at the Hopman Cup competition on Monday.
World number seven, who made her debut on the WTA tour back in 1996 bounced back from an early break to cruise past Laura in straight sets. The final match score was 7-5 6-3. The battle concluded in a time period of eighty three
minutes. By virtue of this victory, Francesca has given an ideal start to her country.
The right handed player started off well, however, lost her focus in the halfway to offer some chances to her Brit foe. At the same time Laura also failed to maintain the dominance and couldn’t get hold of the match. In the end,
Francesca managed to take the opening set after using all her experience with a score line of 7-5.
After putting up a good fight in the first set, both the players exchanged early breaks in the following set before the 2010 French Open winner further improved her game to break her foe on three occasions before eventually serving
out the set after forty nine minutes of action.
Robson, who is still suffering the effects of a recent cold, was not feeling 100% fit during the match as she also sought medical attention after the opening set. As a result of this loss, world number four Andy Murray from Great
Britain will have to win his today’s match against Starace in order to keep his country’s hopes alive.
While commenting on her first Grand Slam title at French Open back in 2010, Schiavone said after the match that her life had not changed in any significant manner since hammering down Samantha Stosur of Australia to pick up the
French Open last season.
"Of course with my friends, my parents it is exactly the same like before. The only problem is every night that we go out they say 'now you have to pay'," joked the Italian after her victory on Monday.
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