Makarova/Vesnina down Chuang/Dushevina to reach semis – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
Russian duo, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, hit back to overpower the Taiwanese-Russian pair, Chia-Jung Chuang and Vera Dushevina, in straight sets at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Friday. They formulated a 6-2, 6-2 victory against their
opponents to cruise into the semi-finals at this red clay court event taking place from 12th to 20th May in Rome.
The winning collaboration of Makarova and Vesnina took advantage of five of the 11 break opportunities to carve out the victory in one hour and seven minutes. After pocketing this match, the Russians high-spiritedly advanced into the last four at this WTA
(Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event.
Makarova and Vesnina made a strong entry at Foro Italico and drew the first blood in the third game to put their nose ahead for the first time in the match. Despite losing their edge in the very next game, the booming Russians unleashed their true form and
went on a four-game tear. They brushed off two out of three breakpoints they came across and cashed in three out of seven break chances to register a 6-2 success.
The in-form Russian pair kept momentum rolling into the following set and earned the critical break in the opening game to take the initial lead. They then swiped in their entire serves after dusting away both breakpoints they faced and capitalised on another
break chance in the seventh game to seal the set with a 6-2 win.
All in all, the Russian junction penned down a better first serve share of 77 per cent as compared to their rivals’ 72 per cent and impressively availed 25 out of 37 points on it. They were broken once but pocketed 58 points to earn the glory.
Next up for the Russians is the American-Georgian tandem, Jamie Hampton and Anna Tatishvili, who got a walkover against the local stars, Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone. The Italians pulled out from the tournament after Pennetta suffered a right
wrist injury during her singles match against Serena Williams.
The third seeded Italians, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, stole the show later that day. They tumbled over the fifth seeded Russian duo, Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, in straight sets to advance.
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