Ana Ivanovic upsets Svetlana Kuznetsova in second round – China Open 2011
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic booked a place in the third round by defeating sixteenth seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round of the China Open 2011. The players had battled for only seventy minutes on outdoor hard
courts of the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China. Serbian Ivanovic outclassed sixteenth seeded Russian in straight sets of 6-2, 6-3 on the 3rd of October.
Opting to serve first was world number eighteen Ivanovic, who not only won on her serve in the opening game but also expertly managed to break Kuznetsova in her serve and in doing so, Ivanovic was able to move the scoreboard at
2-0. She further increased her lead by again winning on her serve to take a lead of 3-0.
It wasn’t a great start for Kuznetsova; however, she made a return in the fourth game by holding her serve but then so did Ivanovic in the next game and the scoreboard rolled to 4-1. During the sixth and the seventh games the players
broke each other back-to-back and at this time Ivanovic was leading with 5-2.
Even though, Kuznetsova did try and reduce the deficit, she was never able to completely recover. It was Kuznetsova’s serve and Ivanovic was eagerly waiting to pounce on a break point opportunity and as soon as it presented itself,
Ivanovic broke Kuznetsova to steal away the opening round with a 6-2 victory.
Serving for the second set of the match was again Ivanovic and she was able to hold her serve in the first game and placed herself successfully on the scoreboard at 1-0. Trailing behind her was Kuznetsova and she too was able to
win on her serve this time and placed herself on the scoreboard right next to Ivanovic at 1-1.
By the third game Ivanovic won another service game and in the fourth as Kuznetsova was serving, she double faulted on her second serve and endorsed Ivanovic with a game. The Serb was now leading in the set score with a hold and
break with 3-1. She further rotated the scoreboard to 4-1 as she held serve in the fifth game and again capitalizing on the second break in the sixth game, proved extremely beneficial for Ivanovic as she was now only a game away.
However, Kuznetsova was able break back and as she held serve, she reduced the deficit to 3-5 but as Ivanovic held serve in the ninth game, she sealed her victory of the set and the match.
Next up for the former world number one and Serb is third seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva or Czech Klara Zakopalova in the third round.
Tags: