Lesya Tsurenko plonks Francesca Schiavone in round one - Fed Cup WG II 2012
Italian tennis ace, Francesca Schiavone, was outdone by the 22-years-old Ukrainian, Lesya Tsurenko, in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday. The contest was played in the round one of the Fed Cup tie between Italy and Ukraine.
In another match Italian contestant, Sara Errani, dumped the Ukrainian opponent, Kateryna Bondarenko, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. The scores were tied at 1-1 on Saturday, as both teams enter the second day of the contest.
Errani stated in a post-match interview, “It’s never easy to open in Fed Cup but it was a good match, very quick. She was hitting really hard. For me, Fed Cup is the best thing all year.”
Team Ukraine has a chance to upset the Italians and route them back in the opening round but it will require another special performance like the one put forth by Tsurenko. The match was pretty much dominated by the Ukrainian
and the aging factor proved to be the decline of the Italian.
Tsurenko started the proceedings in emphatic fashion; holding her serve and doubling the lead with a successful breakthrough in the second game. It was such a surprising start to the match; superior game play from the Ukrainian
had her opponent on the back foot. The Italian failed to respond to this onslaught and lost the second serve on her game as the scores cruised to 4-0.
No more breakpoints were witnessed in the set and the major upset was in the making, with the 121st ranked Ukrainian taking the first set in cracking fashion. Trailing one set down, the Italian veteran looked a
bit worn out and low on confidence with a monumental task expected of her.
World number eleven started the proceedings of the second set in a sensible manner, slowing the pace of the game and frustrating her opponent. She took the first serve game; so did her opponent. The slow pace game backfired
as the Ukrainian smashed several forays at the net that completely dismantled the concentration of the Italian.
Tsurenko broke serve in the third game to the lead and exert immense pressure on her opponent. In search of a breakthrough, Schiavone tried all different game styles especially serve and volley but the Ukrainian was not going
to be outdone with anything on Saturday. Tsurenko broke serve in the seventh game and nailed the second set as well in commanding fashion. Second day of the tie starts with both countries winning one singles contests apiece.
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