Dinara Safina defeats Parra Santonja in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open
Former world number one, Dinara Safina of Russia outclassed her Spanish opponent Arantxa Parra Santonja in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Thursday night.
The 24-year-old Russian displayed sheer brilliance to overpower Santonja in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, concluding the contest in barely 82 minutes to win a pass to the next round of the tournament.
Safina’s first serve wasn’t up to the mark but the determined Russian compensated for it by winning 24 out of 30 points on it. A total of 111 points were played in the game, with Safina winning 64 and the Spanish following her with 47. The Russian frittered away a number of break opportunities but fortunately that didn’t cost her much. She had 10 chances to break the opponent’s serve but Safina just cashed in four of them.
The Russian was slow to start the contest and took her time to settle down. By the time Safina got her eye in the game, Santonja had already broken her serve to lead 2-0 in the first set. The Spanish looked very positive in the beginning but her flare faded out as the competition progressed.
Safina cracked her first serve break in the fourth game to level the scores at 2-2. A double-break point put the Russian in the lead at 4-2 and she held her serve later to extend it to 5-2. The aggressive Russian further crafted a break chance in the eighth game to wrap up the first set, but she was denied by her opponent. Safina had to serve out of the opener in the ninth game, finishing with the score of 6-3 to lead the match 1-0.
Santonja had no luck even in the second set and was left trailing behind at 2-0 after being broken in the very first game. Safina squandered a break chance at 4-3, which would have left her serving for the match. The Russian broke back two games later at 5-3 and sealed the contest to advance to the next round of the BNP Paribas Open.
The Russian’s second round match-up is with the in-form 20th seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Hantuchova made it to the second round at Indian Wells through a bye.
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