Kirilenko/Petrova dump Pavlyuchenkova/Safarova to reach the semis – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Fifth seeded Russian duo of Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova carried on its winning momentum on the hard courts of Miami, outplaying the wildcard pair of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova comprehensively. The Russian
winners took one hour and 30 minutes to settle the final scores at 6-1, 7-6(5), advancing into the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open with authority.
Kirilenko and Petrova displayed another show of class and amazing coordination to register their third straight-sets victory of the tournament in style. They went into the competition with conviction and blasted their way past
the Russian-Czech pair to take the opener with a bagel. Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova made a brilliant recovery in the following set and went on neck-to-neck with the belligerent Russians without dropping serve to impose a tie-breaker round. The fifth seeded
duo proved to be the better competitors in the matchup and bagged the decider to conclude victory.
Kirilenko and Petrova delivered 63 per cent of their serve on target and dropped just 10 points on it, clinching 30 out of 40 en route to victory. The fifth seeds converted three of their five break opportunities, while Pavlyuchenkova
and Safarova could merely register one out of three break points to finish on the losing side in the end.
Action started off right from the beginning when Kirilenko and Petrova went for a four-game rampage straight away to lead 4-0 in the opening 20 minutes of play. Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova finally broke the ballistic assault of
their opponents in the fifth game to strike their first serve break of the day. However, the fifth seeded pair backfired in the very next game with a cracking break of serve and then served out of the first set at 6-1 to get one up in the match.
No serve breaks were witnessed from both ends in the following set, dead-locking the scores at 6-6 to bring a tie-breaker into play. The decider also went to the wire, with Pavlyuchenkova and Safarova straining desperately to remain
alive in the competition. Kirilenko and Petrova crafted a crucial mini-break at 5-5 and closed out the match in their favour at 7-6(5) to reach the semi-finals.
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