Francesca Schiavone scores straight sets win over Vesna Dolonts in second round – French Open 2011
Defending Champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy scored a 6-1, 6-2 win over Vesna Dolonts of Russia in the second round of the 2011 French Open. The fifth seed took one hour and twelve minutes to send Dolonts packing with a straight-sets loss.
The 30-year-old Italian began the match confidently as she looked to attack Dolonts, who has yet to won a WTA title. She kept herself focused and managed to lock a place for herself in the third round of the French Open.
The Italian tennis pro played well in the first set of the match, scoring six winners and committing just eight unforced errors. She also managed to convert three of five break points successfully, although Dolonts fought back and broke Schiavone once out of two opportunities as well. The Italian eventually won the set after breaking Dolonts’ serve twice to take the first set 6-1.
The second set began poorly for the Italian as she was immediately broken in the first game. She responded straight away by breaking Dolonts to go 1-1, before establishing her authority and finding her serve to take the final set 6-2. Francesca again moved effortlessly around the court and gave her opponent a run for her money. She brushed aside the Russian with her amazing ground strokes and big serve.
Dolonts put up a decent fight in the match but she was never really in the match and lost it with a 1-6, 2-6 score line. The Italian was broken back in the second set but went on to win comfortably with some of her sublime shot making and gutsy play. She took six points more than her opponent and won the set 6-2, with an impressive 58 per cent of points on her first serve.
Schiavone concluded her second round victory with a single ace and fourteen winners. In contrast, Dolonts did not hit a single ace but managed to rack up eight winners during the process. The Russian Pro lagged behind with a huge difference of 19 points and awarded her opponent a second round victory in straight sets.
The Italian has now managed to take the lead in their head-to-head record by 2-0. The Italian pro will take on Shuai Peng of China in the third round, after ousting Slovenian Polona Hercog in the second round.
Schiavone and Peng have already met each other at six different occasions and their head-to-head score is tied at 3-3. Their latest meeting came at the second round of Madrid Masters where Schiavone defeated the Chinese in straight sets.
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