American Melanie Oudin defeats Russian Elena Vesnina in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open
19-year-old American, Melanie Oudin defeated her Russian competitor, Elena Vesnina, in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday night.
Oudin took one hour and forty six minutes to outplay her opponent in straight sets, registering a 7-6, 6-2 victory and booking a spot in the second round of the tournament.
The contest looked well poised in the first set, but the American dominated in the second to bag a comprehensive victory. 24-year-old Vesnina did not post much resistance in the second set and surrendered the game to her opponent.
Both players spilled out plenty of unforced errors and wasted many opportunities. Vesnina had 11 chances to break the opponent’s serve, but the Russian only capitalised upon five of them. Oudin converted seven out of 12 break points and had a first serve
percentage of 70 in the match, better than her opponent’s 54 per cent. However, six double faults were reported on Oudin’s behalf.
The opener went neck-to-neck, as the two contestants played good attacking tennis. The first set was fully stuffed with break points and quality winners, as both competitors cracked in four serve breaks as the momentum kept oscillating in the set. Oudin
bagged 49, as the Russian won 42 points out of a total of 91.
The score-board kept ticking on even terms until a tie breaker was called in at 6-6. The American teenager was very quick to get the decider under her control and outplayed her competitor superbly. Oudin reeled off four straight points to win the tie breaker
and seal the opening set 7-6.
A serve break stung by the American in the third game of the second set allowed a 2-1 lead. Vesnina crafted a double break point in the fourth game and converted the second chance to level the score 2-2. Oudin broke back in the very next game with a powerful
forehand winner down the line, securing a 3-2 lead. The Russian squandered a break opportunity and her opponent held serve that left her trailing at 2-4.
A crucial serve break in the seventh game left Oudin serving for the match at 5-2. The American had no difficulty to serve out of the contest at 6-2, advancing to the second round of the event.
Oudin’s second round encounter will be against the twenty third seed German Yanina Wickmayer.
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