Francesca Schiavone falls out of the second round – AEGON Classic 2012
Local crowd at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, England, was in for a stunning result in the second round of the AEGON Classic, as the top seeded Italian veteran, Francesca Schiavone, crashed out of the tournament at the
hands of the Japanese underdog, Misaki Doi. The 115th ranked Japanese shocked the entire audience by hunting down the world number 27, Schiavone, in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the third round of WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) grass-court
event in Edgbaston.
The 21-year-old youngster took just one hour and 28 minutes of play to drive top seed Schiavone out of the tournament with commanding ease. Doi bettered the 31-year-old veteran in most segments of the game and cruised through the
sets comprehensively to register the biggest upset of the tournament so far. She capitalized on the error-ridden game play of the Italian and kept winning crucial points on regularity to come out as the surprise winner.
"It usually takes me a little bit of time to feel comfortable on a new surface, and I didn't feel that good today," Schiavone lamented after her cracking defeat. "I'm upset because I can play much, much better than this - it will
just take time and I'll have to work at it. I'll play in 's-Hertogenbosch next week. I need to play as much as I can before Wimbledon - I think playing more matches is the key for me on grass."
The Japanese delivered 60 per cent of her first serve on target, clinching 25 out of 38 points on it and breaking the Italian serve five out of 14 times en route to victory. On the other hand, Schiavone converted all of her three
break opportunities in the match but couldn’t go past Japanese tennis prodigy and had to submit in the second set.
Doi needs one more victory to make it to the quarter-final stage of the AEGON Classic. She will have to overcome the unseeded French contender, Stephanie Foretz Gacon, in the third round clash of the tournament. Gacon registered
an easy straight sets victory over the unseeded Australian opponent, Anastasia Rodionova, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the third round of the tournament.
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