King/ Shvedova move past Diatchenko/ Vesnina into semi-final – Kremlin Cup 2011
Second seeded team of Vania King with Yaroslava Shvedova ousted the unseeded Russian team of Vitalia Diatchenko with Elena Vesnina in the quarterfinal of the Kremlin Cup 2011. The two squads had battled it out on indoor hard courts
of the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. After one hour and twenty minutes the second seeded duo qualified into the semi final as the Russian team withdrew from the match due to injury.
The first round of the match was initiated by Diatchenko/ Vesnina and they easily bagged their first service game to open the scoreboard at 1-0. Following in their footsteps was the second seeded couple, who too comfortable placed
themselves beside their opponents at 1-1 on the scoreboard. During the subsequent two games, the crews bagged a game each other respective serves and by the end of the fourth game the scoreboard had shifted to 2-2.
However, in the fifth game Diatchenko/ Vesnina held their service game and in the sixth capitalized from a breakpoint to take a mini lead of 4-2 on the scoreboard. The second seeded duo quickly broke back in the following game
and with a hold of serve; the score was brought to a tie at the end of the eighth game at 4-4.
At this point, the set could’ve tilted either way but as Diatchenko/ Vesnina smashed a beautiful backhand winner, they bagged their last service game. The serve switched and now it was King/ Shvedova’s turn to serve but they came
under pressure and double faulted on their serve and gifted the opening set to their adversaries, who were now one up in the match.
Although, King/ Shvedova had targeted 65 percent of their first serves on target, they were only able to bag 45 percent of their first service points. They also capitalized on three breakpoints out of the four opportunities that
were presented to them.
The second set of the match was initiated by Diatchenko/ Vesnina and they comfortably bagged their first service game to place themselves on the scoreboard at 1-0. As American King and Kazakh Shvedova double faulted during their
second serve, Diatchenko/ Vesnina capitalized on an early break and reeled off straight two games to place themselves on the scoreboard at 2-0.
They further increased their lead by bagging another service game and the scoreboard moved to 3-0. For the first three games of the match Diatchenko/ Vesnina were ruling over their adversaries. It was in the fourth game that King/
Shvedova finally bagged a game and reduced the deficit to 1-3.
As they broke the American/ Kazakh they further trimmed down the deficit to 2-3. However, Diatchenko/ Vesnina were quick to break back and the scoreboard had shifted to 4-2 with the Babushka dolls leading on the scoreboard.
However, the Russian duo was unable to play any further as Diatchenko had twisted her leg in such a way that she faced a right knee injury. After calling the examiner, Diatchenko and Vesnina decided not to play any further and
withdrew from the match.
Albeit, the second seeded team was losing against the unseeded Russian couple, they now got an easy pass into the semi final of the event.
Tags: