Italian duo halts Cibulkova/Husarova to reach semis – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Fifth seeded Italians, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, downed the Slovakian wildcard entrants, Dominika Cibulkova and Janette Husarova, in straight sets at the Mutua Madrid Madrilena Open 2012 on Thursday. They formulated a 6-4, 7-5 victory against the Slovaks to power into the final four at this blue clay court event taking place in Madrid, Spain.
The high flying Italians got the better of their unseeded rivals in one hour and 21 minutes after cashing in three out of nine break chances. Errani and Vinci also showed brilliant defensive skills as they warded off seven out of eight break chances and finished the match with 71 points.
Errani and Vinci thundered into this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event and earned the desiderated break in the opening game to take the initial lead. Apart from losing their edge in the very next game, the Italians broke their opponent’s serve again in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. They swiped in their remaining serves with poise and pocketed the opener by winning six games to four.
The higher ranked team carried their momentum into the second set and held their opening serve to level the scores at 1-1. They continued hitting angled shots and not only plucked remaining serves but clicked the set with a 7-5 score line after cashing in one out of five break opportunities in the 11th game.
All in all, the Italians manifested a slightly lower first serve share of 69 per cent as compared to their opponents’ 71 per cent but amazingly availed 33 out of 43 points on it. They also committed lower unforced errors and double faults which made the difference.
Next in line for the Italians are the fourth seeded Russians, Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, who cripples the Kazakhs, Yaroslava Shvedova and Galina Voskoboeva, with a breadstick to set-up this meeting. The beaming Russians brushed off all four breakpoints they faced and capitalised on four out of seven break opportunities to manifest a 6-1, 6-2 success. They produced a lower first serve share but amazingly clinched 19 out of 27 points on it.
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