Dinara Safina/Galina Voskoboeva victorious in Malaysian Open quarter-final
The wildcard pair of Dinara Safina and Galina Voskoboeva defeated the fourth seeded team of Maria Elena Camerin and Darya Kustova in the quarter-final of the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The Russian-Kazakh duo wrapped up the thrilling
contest 7-6(1), 4-6 and 10-4, in 92 minutes to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament.
It was an enthralling game of tennis, with momentum swinging in each set. Safina and Voskoboeva combined their efforts very skilfully to outplay their competitors. They topped Camerin and Kustova in all segments of the game and were a more accomplished pair
than the fourth seeded pair.
The winning duo served with an amazing accuracy of 83 per cent, with their opponents lagging behind with 69 per cent. This difference in the quality of first serve proved vital in the contest. Safina and Voskoboeva won 44 out of a total of 65 serve points
in the game and were equally good on their return games.
Camerin and Kustova lacked coordination amongst themselves, the inability which wore them out in the contest. Their opponents exploited this weakness very effectively, cracking plenty of winners through the cracks. The fourth seeded team stung four serve
breaks in the game, with Safina and Voskoboeva nabbing three break points. However, Camerin and Kustova missed their crucial points regularly.
Both teams ignited the match with good aggressive moves. Safina and Voskoboeva served with an outstanding percentage of 86, belting three aces. It was a close contest and the scores were levelled at 6-6 and a decisive tie breaker was enforced.
Safina and Voskoboeva simply outplayed their opponents in the tie breaker, allowing just one point to Camerin and Kustova. The winning pair reeled off five straight points to clinch the first set 7-6(1).
The following set witnessed a momentum swing in the favour of the fourth seeded pair. Although Safina and Voskoboeva played very good tennis in second set, Camerin and Kustova kept winning their points to get on top of their opponents. They won 28, while
Safina and Voskoboeva bagged 26 of the total 54 points in the set. With two serve breaks, Camerin and Kustova took the second set at 6-4 to level the match at 1-1.
Tide turned in the decider as Safina and Voskoboeva came out firing in the third set. Both teams had identical first serve percentage of 71 but Safina and Voskoboeva won 86 per cent of their serve points, with their opponents lagging behind with a mere 43
per cent. A total of 14 points were played in the third set and Safina and Voskoboeva won 10 out of those to seal a victory for themselves and a pass to the semi-final.
Safina and Voskoboeva will face the winner of the match between the pair of Shuko Aoyama and Chan Chin-wei and the Russian duo of Elena Bovina and Nina Bratchikova.
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