King/ Shvedova prevail over Grandin/ Uhlirova in quarterfinal – Toray Pan Pacific Open 2011
Third seeded team Vania King with Yaroslava Shvedova had faced a tough battle against unseeded team of Natalie Grandin with Vladimira Uhlirova in the doubles quarterfinal of the Toray Pan Pacific Open 2011. After battling for one
hour and twenty two minutes on outdoor hard courts of the Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan, American King with Kazakh Shvedova prevailed over Grandin/ Uhlirova with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on the 29th of September.
Opting to serve first were Grandin and Uhlirova, who were fresh off their first WTA doubles title as a team in Seoul on the weekend. However, they got off to a bad start as they were unable to hold serve in the initial game. Nevertheless,
King/ Shvedova were pumping with energy and not only did they capitalize on an early break but also held serve in the second to take a mini lead of 2-0.
By the end of the third game they had benefitted from another break to further increase the gap to 3-0. It was in the fourth game that Grandin/ Uhlirova tried to make a comeback by breaking King/ Shvedova and even though, they
reduced the deficit to 1-3, they were still unable to bring the score to even terms.
As the teams won on alternate service games in the following four games the score read as 5-3, with the same difference in the score they squads kept battling for the ninth and the tenth game until finally the number third seeded
pair had clogged the opening set with a 6-4 victory.
As King/ Shvedova powered through the first set, they set the tone for the second and opening the second set was again Grandin and Uhlirova. The crews managed to hold their service games during the first two games and the scoreboard
rolled at 1-1.
During the third and the fourth game, King and Shvedova broke their adversaries and then held serve to take a mini lead of 3-1. A game and break down the unseeded South African/ Czech team was unable to make a comeback.
Amidst the following five games the score again progressed with the same difference in the score as the teams won on respective serves and in the tenth game King/ Shvedova smashed two successive aces to reel of a 6-4 victory.
Next up for the American and the Kazakh is the second seeded team of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the semi-final of the event.
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