Alisa Kleybanova and Johanna Larsson move into the quarterfinals at 2011 Estoril Open
Number one seed Alisa Kleybanova of Russia came back from a set deficit against Frenchwoman Mathilde Johansson 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday to make it to the quarterfinal of 2011 Estoril Open in Portugal.
Ranked 25th in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Kleybanova made a shaky start to the match as she over hit her forehand shots on several occasions. Johansson took complete advantage of her opponent’s ordinary
game play and broke the serve to take 4-3 lead in the set. Kleybanova was unable to break back in the set as Johansson held on to her serve games to clinch the opening set with the scoreline of 7-5.
The Russian raised the level of her game in the following set and came up with a brilliant plan to down her opponent. Kleybanova was trailing at 3-1 in the set before she made a remarkable comeback to force the match into the decider.
With her attacking approach and strong mental ability, she claimed five straight games against her opponent and gained the physiological advantage.
Johansson failed to handle the pressure in the final set as she committed a fair number of unforced errors. Her critical mistakes allowed the top seeded Kleybanova to dictate terms as she broke the serve twice to complete an emphatic
victory. The match lasted for more than 2 hours and 31 minutes.
"It would be great if I could keep going like this," Kleybanova said in a post match interview. "It's my second tournament on clay, but my first one in Charleston was a little bit of a disaster, so I was training hard for this
week. I really do want to do well here - at the end of the day I practice to play matches, I don't practice just to practice!"
With accurate serving, Kleybanova reached an impressive 68 per cent first conversion. She also overshadowed the challenger in serve return department by securing more than 56 per cent of the points. The Russian converted ten out
of sixteen break chances to cement her position in the contest. Winner of two WTA titles, Kleybanova has been in good form since the year 2011 has started and is one of the favourites for this tournament. Her quarterfinal opponent will be German Kristina Barrois
who ousted sixth seed Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-3 to book a place in the last eight at red clay courts tournament.
Meanwhile Swede tennis player Johanna Larsson secured an easy victory over young Polish Urszula Radwanska 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinal. Larsson dominated the match with some highly quality tennis. She broke the serve four
times and required only 1 hour and 40 minutes dispatching her opponent.
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