Elena Baltacha ousts Yaroslava Shvedova; qualifies for the second round – Citi Open 2011
Chasing the maiden title of her career, Elena Baltacha of Great Britain did away Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(5). The two women opened play at the College Park here today, playing their first round match
at the 2011 Citi Open.
Having played each other four times before, the pair entered the match sporting a 2-2 head-to-head score. Being the score tied at even terms, the fortunate Baltacha was able to extend her lead over Kazakh after their match at Washington
today. Their last meeting had come at the final qualifying round of the 2009 French Open where the Kazakh had defeated the Brit in straight sets to take the score to 2-2, however, she could not offer any valiant resistance and lost the match taking one hour
and fifty five minutes of play.
Looking into the match, it was held that Baltacha was the better player statistically as she opened the serve and rushed into a 1-0 lead. Breaking Shvedova’s serve in the second game, Baltacha extended her lead to 2-0. Continuing
her ascent in the ensuing game, the Brit was able to enjoy a 4-2 lead before clinching off a 6-2 victory in the opening set.
Going in the second set, it looked pretty obvious that the Kazakh woman was not about to go down without much of a fight as she managed to keep the score tied at all times, pushing the second set into a tiebreaker. Stepping into
the tiebreaker, Shvedova was able to win as many points as she could to build a huge pressure upon her opponent but failing to win a single point afterwards, Shvedova lost the first tie-breaker 7-6(5).
Enjoying a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head series, Baltacha won 63 percent on her first service, 44 percent on return and a total of 91 of 167 points in the match. In contrast, the Kazakh played the big points poorly, winning a
meager 56 percent on her service and losing the match with a whopping difference of fifteen points in total.
Standing in a way of her second round victory is the French Virginie Razzano, who beat Japanese wild card, Misaki Doi in straight sets to meet the Brit for the fourth time.
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