Anna Tatishvili and Anastasiya Yakimova through to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open
Georgian qualifier, Anna Tatishvili won her opening round match against Olga Govortsova of Belarus at the Sony Ericsson Open at Miami, Florida on Wednesday night. The marathon contest lasted for two hours and twelve minutes, with
Tatishvili finally closing out the match at 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
It was an enthralling game of tennis with momentum swinging throughout the match. The 21-year-old Georgian avenged her defeat she suffered at the hands of Govortsova last year, levelling their head-to-head record to 1-1. She had
to recover very skilfully after dropping the second set of the match to register her ninth victory of the running WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) season.
Tatishvili had a great start to the contest, breaking her opponent three times while serving brilliantly with 82 per cent accuracy in the opener. Her Belarusian opponent conceded four double faults to assist Tatishvili clinch the
first set at 6-3.
A more enthralling second set was observed as Govortsova bounced back strongly in the game. After the contestants exchanged two serve breaks each, it appeared as if the set was heading towards a decisive tie breaker. However, a
critical serve break from Govortsova at 5-5 put her in the commanding position and she served out of the second set at 7-5, imposing a third.
Tide turned in the decider as Tatishvili uplifted her first serve percent to an amazing 82 per cent and stung three break points to secure victory at 6-3. The Georgian will play against the 27th seed Spanish, Martinez
Sanchez in the next stage of the competition. The Spanish received a bye to get a direct access to the second round at Miami.
In another opening round match of the Wednesday evening, the other Belarusian qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova outshined Alla Kudryavtseva to advance to the second round. Yakimova convincingly wrapped up the straight sets victory
at 6-3, 6-1, taking just one hour and thirty nine minutes of play.
The 24-year-old Belarusian displayed her sheer brilliance to register her 10thvictory in the current WTA season. Although Yakimova delivered 73 per cent of her first serve on target, she conceded six double faults in
the game. The two contestants crafted 10 break chances each in the match, with the Belarusian converting six and Kudryavtseva cashing in just two opportunities.
Two early serve breaks from Yakimova put her in a commanding lead at 5-3 in the opening set. The Belarusian sealed of the first set comprehensively at 6-3 to get one up in the competition. Things appeared relatively easier for
Yakimova in the next set of the match and she blew away her Russian opponent with her 82 per cent first serve.
Yakimova struck three break points in the second set to bag victory at 6-1 and move on to the next round of the Sony Ericsson Open. She will face the world number two, Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the second round of the tournament.
Clijsters was awarded a bye into the second round at Miami.
Tags: