Dulko/ Pennetta defeat Vives/ Santonja in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open doubles
Top seeded pair of Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of France outshined the Spanish duo of Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra Santonja in the second round of the doubles category of the Mutua Madrid Open at Madrid,
Spain. In the Tuesday’s clash, Dulko and Pennetta dispensed the home favourite pair in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, to book a berth in the quarter-final of the clay-court tournament.
Dulko and Pennetta received a bye to get direct access to the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event. They combined their efforts brilliantly to overwhelm the bleak Spaniards and move on to
the quarter-finals of the event. The top seeded duo faced some resistance in the opening set but cruised through the second set with ease to register a victory.
The combination of Dulko and Pennetta proved far accomplished than the Spanish team, who were clearly lacking coordination throughout the game. Vives and Santonja hung in the opener for a while, registering two serve breaks but
suffered three critical break points from their opponents, driving them out of the set.
Vives and Santonja provided 11 opportunities to the top seeded opponents, who converted six of the chances en route to victory. Dulko and Pennetta had an aggressive start to the opener and broke early to put pressure on the Spaniards.
Vives and Santonja regrouped quickly to reply with a break point and then pressed further to sting a second consecutive serve break to reach 4-2.
The Spaniards lost steam after getting to a commanding position in the first set and their silly mistakes allowed Dulko and Pennetta to bounce back right into the game. The top seeded pair launched a series of attacks to the Spanish
opponents, belting two straight serve breaks to reach set point at 6-5. A cracking forehand winner from Dulko sealed the opener at 7-5, giving her side a one-set advantage in the game.
Things exacerbated for Vives and Santonja in the following set, as their game took a significant downturn. Dulko and Pennetta kept winning crucial points in the game and fired three serve breaks to race to victory at 6-2.
Dulko and Pennetta will face the fifth seeded duo of Victoria Azarenka from Belarus and Maria Kirilenko of Russia in the quarter-final of the Mutua Madrid Open. Azarenka and Kirilenko outdid the Chinese pair of Shuai Peng and Jie
Zheng to qualify for the round of eight.
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