Alberta Brianti ousts Alexandra Panova in the first round – 2011 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open
Alberta Brianti of Italy gave another indication of her promising talent as she blew away Russian Alexandra Panova in the first round of the 2011 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open on Monday. The 31-year-old Italian took two hours and fifty
one minutes to send her Russian opponent packing with a 6(5)-7, 6-1, 7-5 score line and progressed into the second round in style.
The Italian number five once again proved why she is considered to be the best player among many tennis stars as she rallied from a first set deficit to beat the Russian in three sets. Emerging victorious in her first encounter
with the Russian, Brianti now leads their head-to-head series to 1-0. Moreover, she has not only made it to the second round at the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open, but also added seventeenth victory of the current season to her repository.
Both players exchanged breaks in the first set, before it reached the tie-breaker, which was won by Panova. She played remarkably well in the first set and Brianti needed some fancy footwork to overcome her aggressive opponent
in the remaining parts of the game. The Russian tennis player looked unstoppable in the first set and the Italian pro had to use her fiery forehands to get the better of her in a hard time of three hours. The Italian ace worked her strokes and serves to unimaginable
angles and earned this victory in brilliant manner. Panova was very quick to take the first set 7-6(5) and as expected, Brianti immediately replied by snatching the second set with a bread stick to tie the score at one set apiece.
However, the Russian tennis player refused to go down without fight and kept coming back to Brianti in the third set. The final set turned into a battle of attrition as none of the two players were willing to drop their serve.
Nevertheless, the crafty Italian once again proved herself to be more superior as she managed to win seventeen percent more points than Panova on her first serve. The Italian got 69 percent serves in, smacked three aces and crafted three break points to win
this blockbuster duel of the day.
She now moves on ahead to meet Zuzana Kucova of Slovakia in the second round of the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open on Monday. Kucova, who moved past Kurumi Nara of Japan in the first round, has already met the Italian once before at
Bari, where she defeated the Italian in three thrilling sets to hold a 1-0 lifetime edge. Kucova may have the edge in their head-to-head series, but a hard court should help Brianti to use her big serve en route to a straight sets victory.
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