Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova labours past Melinda Czink to clear the second round – French Open 2012
World number 24, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, had to recover from a one-set deficit before turning the tables on the unseeded Hungarian, Melinda Czink, in the second round of the French Open on Thursday. The 22nd seed Russian settled the final score line at 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to earn a spot in the third round of the mega event in Paris, France.
The 20-year-old Russian exhibited brilliant clay-court tennis skills to take the better of the Hungarian veteran. She suffered an early setback in the match when Czink clinched the opening set to get one up quickly. It appeared at a moment that the unseeded Hungarian was well on course for a straight sets victory but Pavlyuchenkova had other plans in mind. The talented Russian youngster shifted her gears in the last two sets of the match and rallied past her opponent to evade the upset outcome.
It was at the Grand Prix De SAR in 2009 when Czink first defeated the Russian in a singles encounter. Pavlyuchenkova availed the payback opportunity in the Thursday’s matchup and she registered her first victory over the Hungarian to level the head-to-head series at 1-1. The Russian youngster featured the quarter-finals of Roland Garros last season and her belligerent beginning to this year’s campaign hints that she is back on the red clay of Paris with intent of lifting gold for the first time.
Pavlyuchenkova delivered 65 per cent of her first serve on target and clinched 43 out of 64 points on it to route her Hungarian opponent. She crafted a total of 13 break opportunities and converted just five of them en route to victory. Czink also registered three out of nine break points in the contest but 52 cracking winners from the Russian racquet completely dismantled her opening set moment in the later parts of the match. A total of 197 points were played in the contest, with Pavlyuchenkova winning 108 and Czink lagging behind at 89.
Up next for Pavlyuchenkova is the unseeded Czech competitor, Klara Zakopalova, in the third round clash of the French Open later this week.
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