Lucie Safarova flogs Arantxa Parra Santonja
in first round – Kremlin Cup 2011
Czech Lucie Safarova got rid of lucky loser Arantxa Parra Santonja in the main draw of the Kremlin Cup 2011. The players battled it out on indoor hard courts of the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. After a lengthy battle of two
hours and ten minutes Czech Safarova scored 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-3 against lucky loser Santonja on Tuesday the 18th of October 2011.
Safarova had decided to serve first as she had just won the service toss and she successfully held her serve to initiate the scoreboard to 1-0. Trailing behind her was Santonja, who too held her serve and placed herself beside
her adversary at 1-1 on the scoreboard. In the next two games the players once more won a service game on respective serves.
During the fifth game and the sixth game the challengers broke each other back-to-back and the score tied at 3-3. From there onwards the players matched a blow for a blow and the scored balanced at 4-4 by the end of the eighth
game as two once more held serve.
At the end of the tenth game the score had evened out at 5-5 as both the contenders broke each other one after the other for the second time. Eventually the set was pushed into a tiebreaker at the end of the twelfth game.
The toe-to-toe run carried well into the tie breaker and the player matched an eye for an eye. The score tied at seven points each by the fourteenth point, however, Santonja took the cake when she clinched the tiebreaker at 9-7
and was now one up in the match.
Safarova commenced the second round of the match and the rivals went neck-on neck as they constantly won their service games for the first four games and they tied the score at 2-2. However, in the fifth game Safarova held serve
and then in the sixth as Santonja double faulted, she endorsed a game to Safarova, who took the lead at 4-2 by the end of the sixth game.
In the subsequent two games the players won a game on alternate serves and the score had progressed to 5-3. Safarova was now only a game away from clogging the second set but as she served for the set, she double faulted. However,
she was quick to break back immediately in the next game and clogged the set with a 6-4 victory.
The third set was initiated by Safarova and she was unable to hold her service game but was quick to break back and placed herself on the scoreboard at 1-1. By the end of the fourth game Safarova had taken the lead and in the remaining
games the players held serve.
Safarova eventually bagged the third set with a 6-3 victory and secured a place in the second round of the Kremlin Cup.
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