Aravane Rezai ousts Elena Vesnina in the second round – Baku Cup 2011
Meeting for the first time, the French, Aravane Rezai contested against Russian, Elena Vesnina in the second round of the Baku Cup on the 20th of July 2011. They battled each other on the acrylic hard courts at the Baku
Tennis Academy, Baku, Azerbaijan. Aravane had won the first set 6-3 but in the second set Vesnina retired and hence, gave the match to her opponent.
Elena won the toss and opened the set by smashing an ace and winning seventy eight percent of the first serve opening the set. However, in the next second her accuracy faltered and she hit two double faults on the net. Her return
game was below the par and was not able to hit a few return serves. Her defence was shaky and did not save three break points out of the four that she had committed. Other than this, she was also unable to win fifty percent of her break point chances and lost
the match because of an average performance.
On the contrary, Aravane had immaculate accuracy on her serve and struck no double faults and instead smashed three aces. Although, the French had only managed to win a mediocre forty eight percent of the first serve opening the
set, she had a return game that was exceptional; like a board at the back of the net she re-coiled everything that came her way. Her defence was strong as an ox and did not slip or give way instead she was able to save fifty percent of her break points and
won seventy five percent. Hence, Aravane won the match because her style and technique against her opponent along with an unbreakable defence she won the set 6-3.
After the first set Vesnina was not feeling well and called for medical attention. Even though she wanted to play, she eventually retired after losing her serve in the opening game due to a viral infection that had taken over her
skills and technique.
Across the board, Aravane’s stats were far better than her rival Vesnina’s and the French won the match with 6-3, 1-0 taking the lead 2-0 into the next round.
The 24-year-old French Aravane Rezai has seen many ups and downs throughout her career; however her career high ranking was world number 15 which she achieved on the 11th of October 2010. Her most notable performance this year
was when she defeated world no. 6 Jelena Jankovic in the first round at Sydney but lost in the second.
The world number 112, French Aravane Rezai will be facing Ksenia Pervak in the quarterfinal.
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