Kirilenko/Petrova down Erakovic/Niculescu to enter quarters – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Fourth seeded Russian duo, Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, stomped over the Kiwi-Romanian pair, Marina Erakovic and Monica Niculescu, in straight sets at the Mutua Madrid Open 2012 on Tuesday. They jolted down a 6-3, 6-2 victory against their rivals to
secure a place in the final eight at Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.
The Russian junction needed 70 minutes to oust Erakovic and Niculescu in their first battle against each other. After earning this glory, Kirilenko and Petrova convincingly advanced into the quarter-finals at this blue clay court event.
Kirilenko and Petrova assertively entered this WTA Premier Mandatory event and held their opening serve through amazing skills. They failed to save the lone breakpoint they came across but cashed in half of the four break chances to bag the opener with a
6-3 win.
The Jubilant Russians raised the bar of their game in the final set and swiped in their entire serves without facing any real challenge. They cashed in two out of seven break opportunities and plucked the set with a 6-2 score line.
Summing up the seeds’ performance, Kirilenko and Petrova registered a much higher first serve share of 72 per cent as opposed to their rivals’ 47 per cent but impressively availed 26 out of 33 points on it. They also took advantage of the unforced errors
Erakovic and Niculescu spilled and fired three aces.
The high flying Russian team received a first round bye after being a top four seed at this event. They will next confront the conqueror of the match between seventh seeded Kazakhs, Yaroslava Shvedova and Galina Voskoboeva, and the local contenders, Anabel
Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja.
The Slovakian wild card entrants, Dominika Cibulkova and Janette Husarova, will accompany the Russians in the last eight. They were broken down four times but broke the top seeded American’s serve three times, consequently sealing the deal with a 4-6, 7-6(6),
15-13 victory in one hour and 57 minutes. The underdogs also produced a better first serve share of 83 per cent as compared to the Americans’ 61 per cent and brilliantly clinched 38 out of 68 points on it. They sought eight break chances and finished the match
with 88 points in contrast with Huber-Raymond’s 84 per cent to earn the spotlight.
Cibulkova and Husarova will next confront the winner of the match between the fifth seeded Italian tandem, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, and the Russian-Czech pair, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova.
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