Generali Ladies Linz and Japan Open; Highlights from Wednesday
Roberta Vinci, Sara Errani and Andrea Petkovic were all straight set victors at the Generali Ladies Linz singles competition on Wednesday and first to earn their place in the quarter final round of the $220,000 contest. Meanwhile,
Petra Kvitova and Ana Ivanovic also triumphed in their first round matches on Wednesday.
The ninth seed Sara prevented eleven break points in beating her Czech opponent Renata Voracova, a qualifier in two sets. The final match score was 6-2, 6-2. Andrea, the sixth seed ace on the other hand took the opening eleven
games of her clash against Anne Keothavong. The Scott stopped the rot with a three-game streak, but it was too late to distrupt the momentum of the world number thirty six. In the end, Andrea progressed with a two setter victory 6-0, 6-3.
Roberta got the better of Sofia Arvidsson from Sweden in two sets. The final match score was 6-4, 6-2, whereas Petra who was also a finalist in Linz back in 2009, brushed aside this year’s Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anastasia Rodionova of Australia after
she pulled out as a result of her injury. At the time, the fifth seed Roberta was leading the two at 6-2, 1-0. Roberta will take on Julia Goerges on Thursday next.
Ana, who captured her previous crown back in 2008, took some time to get past her good buddy, Sorana Cirstea.
Sorana from Romania who was defeated in the last round of qualifying, still earned a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser. She didn’t enjoy a single break point on Ana’s serve and broke on a total of five occasions on Wednesday.
The final match score was 6-2, 6-0. The clash concluded in the time period of forty five minutes in Linz.
Ana, a wild card entrant will next play Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in her second round clash on Thursday. Local favourite Sybille Bammer on the other hand will meet Eleni Daniilidou.
In other action, the top seed and last year’s winner, Samantha Stosur of Australia reached the quarter final round of the 2010 Japan Open Women singles competition on Wednesday after beating Junri Namigata from Japan in two sets.
The final match score was 6-0, 6-3. The Australian smashed a total of eight aces to get past her Japanese foe on Wednesday.
Samantha who grabbed her maiden singles crown here back in 2009, has improved to career mark of 7-0 at the event, as a result of this victory. The clash concluded in the time period of sixty three minutes on Wednesday.
"I captured won the ITF crown here in 2001, so I am very confident when I play here. My opponent hit the ball well. She has a good backhand, a pretty good first serve. I think she felt she needed to play well in front of her fans,”
added Stosur after her victory on Wednesday.
Stosur is likely to meet the sixth seed Kimiko Date Krumm in her next round clash if Kimiko man ages to triumph in her second round on Thursday.
"I am looking forward to it. It will be my third Japanese opponent here, but the crowd has been supporting me a lot. It would be very tough for me if I play Kimiko,” added Stosur about her next round’s opponent.
Meanwhile, Marion Bartoli also cruised into the quarters after thrashing out Stefanie Voegele in two sets on Wednesday. The final match score was 6-2, 6-2.
Later in the day, the fourth seed Maria Kirilenko pulled out of her match against Chang Kai-Chen as a result of her hip injury after falling down in the opening set 6-4.
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