Italian veterans stun Peschke/Srebotnik to reach quarters – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Italian junction, Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone, shocked the second seeds, Czech Republic’s Kveta Peschke and Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik, in straight sets at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Thursday. They manipulated a 6-2, 6-4 success
against their opponents to progress into the final eight at this red clay court event which is part of WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour 2012.
The high flying Italians took down Peschke and Srebotnik in one hour and 16 minutes after cashing in four out of seven break chances. After bagging this match, Pennetta and Schiavone comfortably advanced into the quarter-finals at this WTA Premier Five event
held in Rome, Italy.
Pennetta and Schiavone thundered into Foro Italico and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. After breaking the seeds’ serve once again in the fifth game, they jumped to a 5-1 lead improved their position in the set. The Italians
plucked their serve for the last time in the eighth game and clicked the opener with a 6-2 score line.
The unseeded tandem kept momentum rolling into the following set and earned the coveted break in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Despite squandering their edge in the very next game and trailing 2-3, Pennetta and Schiavone stroke out the last three games
in a row and pocketed the set with a 6-4 win.
All in all, the winning pair nudged up a better first serve share of 73 per cent as compared to their rival’s 60 per cent but impressively availed 27 out of 37 points on it. They also spilled fewer double faults and finished the match with 58 points.
Next up for the Italians is the American-Georgian tandem of Jamie Hampton and Anna Tatishvili who upset sixth seeds, Julia Goerges and Vania King, in straight sets to set-up this battle. They lost their serve three times but broke the seeds’ serve five times
to pocket the match.
The Slovakian collaboration of Dominika Cibulkova and Janette Husarova also earned the glory later that day. They registered a 6-3, 6-2 victory against the seventh seeds, Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova, in straight sets in one hour and 13 minutes.
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