Francesca Schiavone out from the second round draw – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Former French Open champion, Italy’s Francesca Schiavone faced a terrible loss in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday, as she crashed out of the mega event at the hands of the 39th ranked Kazakh opponent,
Ksenia Pervak. Currently holding the 12th spot in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) World Rankings, Schiavone was stunned by the overall onslaught from Pervak and eventually succumbed in the decisive set at 4-6, 6-4, 5-7.
The gruelling battle took two hours and 39 minutes to settle and the 20-year-old Kazakh came out as the jubilant winner. These two already encountered in Brisbane International earlier this year but the contest was evenly poised
at 4-4 in the opener when Pervak pulled out of it due to injury. She made no mistake this time round and fully utilised her reserves to register one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far.
Pervak took hold of the contest early and raced through the opening set with limited resistance from the Italian veteran to lead 1-0. 31-year-old Schiavone made a fitting reply in the very next set to force her way back in the
match but her impetus was halted shortly afterwards in the final set. Intense competition was witnessed in the third set of the match but it was sheer brilliance and talent of the 20-year-old which took her through to victory in the last moments of the contest.
Pervak’s 68 per cent serve yielded her 48 out of 73 first serve points but she also coughed six double faults as well. She nailed five out of six break points in the match; whereas Schiavone kept frittering away the priceless break
opportunities throughout the contest to finish on the losing side in the end. She had 11 break points in the competition but converted only four of them to remain at a disadvantage all the way.
Pervak will meet the 22nd seed Russian tennis beauty, Maria Kirilenko, in her next encounter at the Sony Ericsson Open. Kirilenko outplayed her fellow compatriot, Alisa Kleybanova, in straight sets, 7-6(1), 6-3, in the
second round clash of the tournament on Friday evening.
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