Anna Tatishvili edges past Arantxa Rus into the second round – Family Circle Cup 2012
World number 80, Anna Tatishvili of Georgia, fought back after the first set drubbing to beat 97th ranked, Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, USA
on Tuesday.
Rus was almost flawless in the first set, as she struck twice in the first five games and raced to a 5-0 lead. The Dutch could not complete the bagel but allowed her higher ranked opponent, Tatishvili, to win only one game, serving
it out at 5-1.
The left-hander, Rus, performed better than the Georgian in all departments of the game, hitting 79 percent of the first serves and converting 15 of the 22 of them into points in the opener. The Dutch won five of the six second
delivery points. She attacked Tatishvili’s second serves, claiming five of the six points on them.
Rus and Tatishvili were unable to win their serve on most of the occasions in the second set, as seven of the 10 games were broken. However, the Georgian succeeded in holding her serve twice compared to only one time by Rus, capturing
it 6-4.
Both players had below average serve statistics in the second set. However, Tatishvili got an edge over the Dutch due to her better first serve conversion rate, as she grabbed 10 of the 21 points on them. The Georgian could not
save three of the four break threats she came across but compensated that by utilising four of the five of her own opportunities.
Tatishvili and Rus exchanged two blows in the first eight games of the final set, evening out the score at 4-4. The Georgian dropped just three points in the next two, making a breakthrough in the ninth game and capitalising on
it to win 6-4.
The 22-year-old, Tatishvili, was fortunate to go through despite committing five double faults and losing eight of the 12 points on the second serve. The Georgian did most of the damage on the second returns, pocketing six of the
seven points on them. The Florida, USA resident availed all the three chances she created to break Rus in the decider.
The Georgian needed two hours and 12 minutes to secure a tough win over her opponent.
Tatishvili is pitted against 17th seed, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, in the second round. The winner of these two will take on 13-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams, in the round of 16.
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