Dinara Safina advances into the third round of 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience
Russian tennis-pro Dinara Safina crushed Tsvetana Pironkova of Belarus 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday in her second round matchup at the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella.
Former world number one looked in complete control of her game right from the start as she executed her shots to perfection. She broke the serve in fifth game of the opening set with a powerful serve ace and then held on to her
next serve game to earn a significant 4-2 lead in the set. Safina finally secured the opening set 6-3 with a forehand winner down the line.
The second set was played on a more competitive note as both players exchanged serve breaks to gain an advantage. Safina played better tennis early on which ensured her a strong position in the contest but Pironkova bounced back
brilliantly with a double serve break to keep her hopes alive. Safina had another chance of breaking the serve in the 9th game of the set giving her a crucial 5-4 lead in the set, serving for the match. She then converted one of the match points
to seal the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
Ranked 81st in the WTA rankings, Safina dominated her opponent in almost all departments of the game. Her serve was on target most of the times as she achieved 65 percent of the points on her first serve. The Russian
converted some wonderful rallies on the serve return as well to establish firm control over the contest. Pironkova on the other hand lacked the fire power and failed to handle the pressure against a top quality player. She had a fair number of break chances
but managed to convert only a few of them. In a post match interview she admitted that she felt the pressure and made several mistakes. Her unforced errors played a major role in deciding the outcome of the clash.
Safina started the season in a very uncertain fashion losing her first round match at 2011 Auckland against the number two seed Yanina Wickmayer. The Russian then returned to the Women’s Tennis Association tour at the 2011 Australian
Open where she was again knocked out in the first round by the eventual Champion Kim Clijsters.
However, Safina restored some of her lost pride by winning the doubles tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Just a couple of weeks ago she stunned fourth seed Samantha Stosur to reach the fourth round of the tournament. A win over a top
10 player would have given her a lot of confidence in her abilities.
Considering her recent performances many would have written her off against world number 36 Tsvetana Pironkova. However, she raised the level of her game and came up with a special performance to shut up the critics. The Russian
is in pursuit of her thirteenth WTA triumph here at Marbella.
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