Anastasia Rodionova plonks Vera Dushevina to enter the main draw – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Australian star, Anastasia Rodionova, dumped the 10th seed qualifier, Vera Dushevina, in straight sets at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Sunday. She nudged up a 6-2, 6-4 victory against the world number 80 to secure a spot in the main draw at this WTA (Women's Tennis Associaion) Premier Mandatory event taking place in Madrid, Spain.
The underdog showed exceptional skills to outsmart Dushevina for the first time in their fourth meeting. After earning this success in one hour and 33 minutes, Rodionova advanced into the first round.
Rodionova high-spiritedly entered the Foro Italico and unleashed her spectacular skills to carve out the opener with a breadstick. After Dushevina held her serve in the opening game, the Aussie went on a five-game tear to take a 5-1 lead. She then held her serve once more and pulled out the set with a 6-2 score line.
The 30-year-old kept momentum rolling into the following set and drew the first blood in the fifth game to jump to a 4-2 lead. Despite losing her edge in the eighth game, Rodionova cashed in another break chance in the ninth game and then served to bag the set with a 6-4 win.
Summing up the Aussie’s performance in this duel, Rodionova clobbered a better first serve share of 63 per cent as compared to her rival’s 58 per cent and impressively clicked 34 out of 45 points on it.
Ranked 106th in the WTA Premier Rankings, Rodionova will square off against the German ace, Angelique Kerber, in the opening round.
Qualifying fourth seed, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, will accompany Rodionova in the main draw. She needed almost two hours to overpower the Ukrainian contender, Lesia Tsurenko, in straight sets to progress.
The Spaniard lost her serve twice but cashed in three out of eight break chances to pocket the opener.
She kept momentum rolling in the following set and despite losing her serve once, Soler-Espinosa capitalised on three out of eight break opportunities to pluck the second set.
The world number 60 spilled seven double faults but prevailed throughout the match, eventually sealing the deal with a 6-3, 6-3 success.
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