Francesca Schiavone crushes Monica Niculescu in second round – New Haven Open 2011
Number three seed Francesca Schiavone made quick work of Romanian tennis pro Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday to book her place in the last eight of 2011 WTA New Haven Open here in New Haven, United States.
The Italian started off very aggressively and she finished the same way to reach another quarterfinal on the Women’s Tennis Association tour. In the quarterfinal, Schiavone will be facing the winner from the match between Elena
Vesnina and Anabel Medina Garrigues.
“This wasn’t an easy match,” Schiavone said to the crowd after the match. “I served good and my forehand was good. But she really mixed it up. For me, overall I played consistently and I am looking forward to my next match.”
Ranked 8th in the world, Schiavone made an attacking start to the contest. Breaking her opponent very early in the opening set, she took control of the match. Under pressure, Niculescu struggled to find her game play
as she committed too many unforced errors. Consolidating, Schiavone raced to an impassable 5-0 lead with in first twenty minutes of play.
Regrouping herself, Niculescu made a good come back to break Schiavone one of her service games as she managed to reduce Italian’s advantage to 5-2. Breaking the serve for the third time, Schiavone took 1-0 lead in the set score.
Francesca continued to build on her lead in the following set as well. The 2010 French Open champions executed her game plan brilliantly as she dashed her forehand and backhand winners cross court and down the line. With an early
break of serve in the second set, the Italian took a healthy 3-1 lead.
Niculescu fought hard to stay in the set as she deuced four times with Schiavone at 1-3 in the longest game of the match. However Schiavone kept her composure and she forced a couple of errors from the challenger to extend her
lead to 4-1. Claiming the next two games comfortably, the 30-year-old completed an emphatic victory in a contest that lasted for 1 hour and 17 minutes.
Although Schiavone struggled in the serve department of the game throughout the match, she was able to outclass her opponent in the finer details. Hitting serve aces at crucial moments, she absorbed the pressure brilliantly.
Taking control of the rallies right from the start, Schiavone converted 65 per cent of the points on her serve. Taking chances on her second serves as well, she established complete control over the match. She will be looking to
maintain her form over the next few matches to lift this trophy.
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