Francesca Schiavone defeats Maria Kirilenko in the 2nd round – Western & Southern Open 2011
Francesca Schiavone played her best match after a long time at the Western and Southern Open 2011, against Maria Kirilenko. Schiavone won the match in a seesaw fashion, surviving a mid match lapse to score 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory
on the hard courts of Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.
The number 7 seeder (Schiavone) was a powerhouse of acute angled cross-court forehands that won her 63% of her first service points, along with a consistent return in which she bagged 50% of her total return points; she was able
to bag the set by accomplishing 54% of her total set points.
On the contrary, Kirilenko had won poor return points in her first and managed to attain a mediocre 41% win in her total return points. Her serve was also not that strong, which limited her tot only 50% of her total service points.
Nevertheless, World number 8 (Schiavone) won the set by accomplishing 5 more points than her opponent’s.
Schiavone, the No. 7 seed battled for nearly more than 45 minutes in the second and another 45 minutes in the third set, where she lost 12 points in a row to drop the second set.
Amidst the second, Schiavone had a meticulous serve and struck zero double faults, and although, she had a great accuracy that enabled her to target 76% of her first serve shots, her opponent achieved a grand 78% of her shots on
target. Kirilenko had managed to save all her break points and hence gave no opportunity to her adversary to break her during the second set.
Kirilenko not only had an excellent serve but her return serve was an amazing display of well placed drop shots and finally she was able to win 83% of second return points and broke her opponent once, gaining another edge she bagged
the set by accomplishing 59% of total set points.
It was a short lived victory for the Russian (Kirilenko) as she nosedived in her serve. Amidst the third set both the players had managed to hit 53% of their first serve on targets, neither of them was able to save a break point
and both had achieved a hundred percent of their break points. However, Schiavone had gained a competitive edge as she was able to break her opponent one more time than Kirilenko.
After her win Schiavone said, "It was tough today, particularly in the third set - she was playing really well. At the end I was just a little bit more consistent, this tournament is giving me the chance to feel good again. I always
need to play as much as I can”.
Other than that, she was able to bag more service points and return points in the set and although, she was falling behind 3-0 in the third set but with the fight that made her the best Italian player in WTA history, the 31-year-old
won six of seven games to seal the set
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