Cincinnati Women’s Open tournament 2010: Maria Sharapova wins first round match
Maria Sharapova won her first round match of the Cincinnati Women’s Open tournament against Svetlana Kuznetsova in a three set encounter which went down to the wire. The final match score read 6-4, 1-6 and 6-2.
Kuznetsova climbed upwards to the number fourteen ranking after triumphing in San Diego about seven days ago, which places her one above the 23-year-old Sharapova.
The right handed Maria, while commenting on her victory after the match explained, “I didn’t play the second set of the match with the same energy”, she said. “It’s all about focus in the game of tennis. I felt like I allowed Svetlana to come back in the game number one of the second set due to lack of focus however, I did well to win the match in the end.”
Kuznetsova was not feeling hundred percent fit throughout the match as she had problems with her back as well as her left knee while playing against Maria. She also missed a total of eight break point chances in ten attempts. However, she did not retire at the York University on Tuesday despite the problems in the match.
“Even when I was down in the set number three of the match, I had a couple of opportunities to come back”, she commented. “However, my leg and back didn’t support me well enough to fight back in the match.”
In another match, the top seeded Jelena Jankovic also won her opening match after defeating the 71 ranked Vera Dushevina in a two setter clash. The final match score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. As a result of this victory, Jelena has reached the third round of the Cincinnati Open 2010.
Akgul Amanmuradova also advanced to the third round of the championship on Tuesday with a victory over Bojana Jovanovski. The final match score was 6-2, 6-0. In another match, the sixteen seeded Marion Bartoli also defeated Alona Bondarenko and made her way into the third round of the Cincinnati tennis championship 2010. The final score was 7-6 (4), 6-1. Yanina Wickmayer, the twelfth seeded player of the tournament on the other hand also made her way into the second round after beating Greta Arn in a total of two sets. The final match score was 6-2, 6-2. The eleventh seeded Flavia Pennetta on the other hand also rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jie Zheng.
As far as the first round matches are concerned, Sybille Bammer knocked down Sorana Cirstea in a total of two sets where as Elena Vesnina defeated Melanie Oudin with a final match score of 6-2, 6-3. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova got the better of Daniela Hantuchova with a score of 6-3, 6-1, whereas Maria Kirilenko hammered down Kateryna Bondarenko in a total of two sets. Andrea Petkovic cruised past Coco Vandeweghe in two sets where as the 46 ranked Gisela Dulko knocked off the 26 ranked tennis ace Lucie Safarova in a two setter clash. The final match score was 6-4, 6-3.
The 42 ranked Oudin, who made her way into the quarter-final of the United States Open Championship back in 2009 at seventeen years of age, couldn’t manage more than a single winner in her match against Vesnina.
Oudin while commenting on Vesnina’s game after the match said, “Today, it was quite difficult for me to smash a winner as she was playing aggressively throughout the match.”
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