Alla Kudryavtseva outdoes Chanelle Scheepers in the first round – Citi Open 2011
Russian Alla Kudryavtseva celebrated the perfect win of the season as she stunned in-form South African, Chanelle Scheepers to reach the Citi Open second round, being played at the Tennis Center at college Park.
The Russian, a quarter-finalist at the Estoril Open, made short work of the South African as she recovered from a set down to shock her 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round and reach the second in just 128 minutes of play.
This was already the fourth meeting between the two players after also playing each other at Montreal, Nottingham and Stanford in the 2009 with the Russian leading the score 2-1. Scheepers tried to avenge her last defeat at Stanford
which she lost in straight sets, but to no avail as the Russian showed why she is one of the best players in the world on hard courts.
The 27-year-old South African was limited to just four aces and had first serve percentage below 60 percent, ultimately falling 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 to send Kudryavtseva, who has already won a career title at Tashkent, into the second
round of Citi Open 2011.
Although Kudryavtseva struggled with her game early, she became more comfortable as the match progressed and clinched the second set with seven more points, before banging into the third with utmost ease.
The rot continued in the third set for Scheepers, as she won just twelve of twenty points on serve and was highly troubled by the Russian’s extremely powerful groundies and returns.
However, she managed to level the score at 2-2, breaking Kudryavtseva in the fourth game of the decider. But it was a false dawn, with the Russian breaking straight back and claiming the next four games with much aplomb.
Some superb passing shots set up match point for Kudryavtseva on the Scheepers serve, and although the South African staved off three break points, she dumped a forehand wide to end the match after 2hr 8min.
She now moves on to face top-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel in the second round of Citi Open 2011.
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