Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova slays Silvia Soler-Espinosa in round two – Swedish Open 2012
Russian fifth seed, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seems to be in an epic run of form at Bastad, Sweden. She butchered the 24-year-old Spaniard, Silvia Soler-Espinosa in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 to reach the quarter-final stage of the
tournament. It is a welcome tournament for the 28th ranked Russian who was not in her sublime form in the recent past and failed to register victories on the trot.
Espinosa started the match with a serve hold and broke serve against the expectations to lead the scores 2-0. However, it was the only positive that she could take from the match because the rest of the proceedings left her embarrassed.
Pavlyuchenkova won two breakpoints on the trot to keep the scores together in opening set until the scores reached 4-4. From that stage, it was all about the Russian who broke serve for the third time in a row and took a lead in
the dying stages of the set. She held her serve after a slight resistance and won the opening set with a little problem.
No one expected that the following set will end in just six games. Espinosa looked pumped up at the start of the second set but her concentration was broken in the first game when her opponent came out with an all-round onslaught.
The 21-year-old Russian held her serve in the second game and broke serve to love in the following game to lead the scores 3-0. There was still hope for the Spanish star but the outbreak from the Russian seemed everlasting.
Successive breakthroughs were coupled with a stunning winner that gave an unassailable lead of 5-0 to the Russian. It was the matter of restoring some respect for the Spanish star who is 24-year-old. However, she failed to break
serve in the final game and fell victim to a classic bagel that also confirmed the quarter-finals spot for the Russian.
Pavlyuchenkova stated at the end of the match, "I was maybe a little bit lucky in the first set. And then in the second she went down a level and I raised my level and got into a rhythm. She's not an easy player, especially on
clay. It's definitely her favourite surface. I'm happy that I had a solid match and got through in straight sets."
The Russian will be seen in action on the eve of Friday against the winner of the match between Mathilde Johansson and Shahar Peer.
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