Alla Kudryavtseva ousts Sorana Cirstea in straight sets in quarterfinal – Tashkent Open 2011
Russian Alla Kudryavtseva moved into the semi-final round of the 2011 Tashkent Open after doing away with Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the round of eight. Taking close to one hour and forty five minutes, the Russian secured a straight,
yet not so simple, 7-6(5), 6-4 sets victory over Cirstea
Romanian called and won the toss opting to open serve in the first set. Matching blow for blow, Kudryavtseva followed closely at her heels to force the scoreboard to tick on even terms. Standing at three games each, Cirstea capitalised
off Kudryavtseva’s double fault to break her opponent and go one up in the score. However, the Russian was determined to stay in the fight as she snatched back the break in the very next game to once more bring the score to even terms. From there on, the two
continued to hold onto their serves as they forced the set into a tiebreaker.
The neck-to-neck run between the Romanian and the Russian continued well on into the tiebreaker. With the players exchanging service breaks one after the other. After ten points the score was tied at five points each. However,
wrapping up the set, Kudryavtseva reeled off two points to clinch the tiebreaker 7-5 going one up in the set score.
Kudryavtseva hit a total of three aces, two of which were in the tiebreaker, along with two double faults and an 81 percent first serve win to lead the set score.
Down but still fighting, Cirstea once more went toe-to-toe with the Russian as the pair entered the second set. Although the Romanian looked to break Kudryavtseva in the sixth game, the latter saved breakpoints to keep the score
levelled at three games each. A successful hold of serve later from the two upped the score to four games each before the Russian went 5-4 in the lead after successfully breaking the Romanian in the ninth game. Labouring past four deuces, Kudryavtseva finally
reeled off two straight points as Cirstea hit two long shots to hand over the straight sets win to the Russian.
Kudryavtseva now moves on ahead to play Eva Birnerova in the semi-final on Saturday, 16th September.
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