Elina Svitolina and Chang Liu clear the opening hurdle – Royal Indian Open 2012
Seeded seventh in the tournament draw, Elina Svitolina had no difficulties in clearing the opening round of the Royal Indian Open on Monday. She sidelined the Slovenian qualifier, Andreja Klepac, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, taking just 77 minutes of play to reach the second round of the WTA Challenger Series event in Pune, India.
It was a completely one-sided affair, with the seventh seeded Ukrainian dominating all the way to victory. She spared merely 5 games for Klepac in the entire matchup and gave her limited opportunities to come on top. Svitolina had a below serve precision of 46 per cent in the contest but managed to claim 24 out of 33 first serve points en route to victory. She crafted six break points but only three conversions proved sufficient for her to hunt down the bleak Slovenian opponent.
Klepac made it through to the main draw after a dominating run in the qualifiers but her magic didn’t work in the very first round of the tournament. She frittered away her golden chances carelessly, failing to convert even a single of six break opportunities in the competition, to finish on the losing side in the end. Her error-prone game play made it easier for the seventh seeded contender to book a berth in the second round. Svitolina will next face the winner of the match between So-ra Lee and Rutuja Bhosale.
On the other hand, 382nd ranked Chinese contestant, Chang Liu, had to dig deep before dumping the local wildcard entrant, Prarthana Thombare, in the opening round. Liu laboured hard for two hours and 21 gruelling minutes to settle the clash in three set, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
18-year-old Indian had a flying start in the match and just cruised through the opening set to mark a 6-3 score line. All of her impetus died out immediately in the following set and could barely win two games before submitting at 2-6. Liu got her desired breakthrough and carried on her winning momentum in the decider. She comprehensively posted a 6-4 score to earn a spot in the second round of the Royal Indian Open.
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