Elena Vesnina stuns Ksenia Pervak to reach the quarter-finals – Budapest Grand Prix 2012
Local crowd at the outdoor clay courts of Budapest, Hungary, was in for a huge surprise on Wednesday as the world number 78, Elena Vesnina, stunned the second seeded Kazakh contender, Ksenia Pervak, in the second round of the Budapest
Grand Prix. The 25-year-old stood victorious in her very first battle against the world number 38, Pervak, beating her in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to book a spot in the round of eight at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour event.
The 20-year-old Kazakh faced some real tough time in the opening round but manoeuvred her way to victory by defeating the other unseeded Russian, Vera Dushevina. She didn’t get any opening in the second round clash against Vesnina
and was found struggling throughout the contest on Wednesday. She secured barely five games in the entire matchup before ending her voyage in Budapest, letting Vesnina through to the quarter-finals.
Winning the toss, Pervak chose to serve first in the match but had an early shocker at the hands of her opponent, who broke her serve in the very first game of the match. Vesnina went on for an all-round onslaught right from the
beginning and nailed three successive serve breaks to fly away to a 5-0 lead in no time. The second seed fought back with a serve break in the sixth game but couldn’t curtail the game deficit, submitting the opening set at 2-6 to fall on her back foot.
The unseeded Russian carried on with her winning impetus in the following set and broke early once again to lead 3-1. Pervak utterly failed to craft any other break opportunity in the second set but held her next two serves to
drag the scores to 3-5. Vesnina delivered the death blow in the ninth game of the match and concluded her emphatic victory at 6-3, cinching a seat among the last-eight of the tournament draw.
"I'm enjoying my time here, as it's my first time in Budapest," Vesnina said after her surprise victory. "I love this city. It's such a nice atmosphere. The hotel is so close to the courts, it feels like home. The score wasn't
indicative of how tough a player Ksenia is. She has improved a lot since last year and was forcing me to play my best tennis today. I was pleased with my serve today. I had a good percentage and made some big first serves at big moments."
Vesnina will next face the Croatian sixth seed, Petra Martic, in the quarter-finals of the Budapest Grand Prix later this week.
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