Alisa Kleybanova defeats Olga Govosrtsova; breezes into the second round of the Estoril Open
Top seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova eased past Belarusian Olga Govortsova in straight sets on Monday. She registered a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 22-year-old Belarusian to advance into the second round of the 2011 Estoril Open in
Oeiras , Portugal.
25th ranked Russian downed 116th ranked Govortsova in sixty-six minutes in their fifth meeting at Estoril Court Central. The Belarusian had won in straight sets on their last two meetings but Kleybanova edge
past her to take the lead in their head to head series by 3-2.
The former top twenty Kleybanova had a great start in this season but her form dipped afterwards. She made a semi-final berth at Sydney and then reached quarter-finals at Dubai but she had a three match losing streak before entering
this WTA Premier event.
21-year-old Russian played her best tennis throughout the match. She displayed magnificent skills in the opening set and held her opening serve plausibly. The youngster then produced a higher first serve share of 59 percent as
compared to Govortsova’s 52 percent and registered an impressive 77 percent win on it. She conceded zero breakpoints and held her entire serves through her massive forehands. Kleybanova then converted both breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to win the
set with an assuring 6-2 score line.
She carried her momentum into the second set and kept her opening serve spectacularly. Kleybanova then saved the only breakpoint faced to hold on to remaining serves. She converted both breakpoint opportunities to her advantage
to seal the set with a 6-2 score line again. The Russian had a slightly lower first serve share of 42 percent but she earned an amazing 90 percent win on it.
"It would be great if I could keep going like this," Kleybanova said. "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!"
She will next face French Mathilde Johansson who triumphed over Russian Ksenia Pervak in straight sets to reach this spot.
World number 74 Johansson took down world number 84 Pervak in eighty-four minutes on another court. Although the Frenchwoman clobbered nine double faults but she converted four out of five breakpoints to her advantage to clinch
the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win. The 25-year-old also had a higher first serve share and earned an exceptional 72 percent win on it.
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