Maria Kirilenko checks away Julia Goerges in round three – London Olympics 2012
World number 15, Maria Kirilenko, ended the sublime run of the 24th ranked German, Julia Goerges, in the third round of the London Olympics with straight sets 7-6(5), 6-3 victory on Wednesday.
Kirilenko was ecstatic to make the last eight at Olympics and confessed in a post-match interview, "It means a lot. I am so happy to win every match here. It's still just a privilege to be here."
Both players were facing off for the third time in their professional careers and the last two meeting were won by the 14th seed Russian as well that were contested in 2011. So, she had an upper hand in this match as
well but considering the devastating form of Goerges, an upset was on the cards too.
The opening set witnessed a desirable start for the 23-year-old German who broke serve to take a lead in the first game and doubled it with a serve hold. However, the Russian didn’t take long to fight back into the encounter with
a breakthrough in the fourth game that levelled the scores at 2-2.
Moreover, an exchange of breakpoints towards the closing moments of the set kept the scores together and a serve hold at both ends enforced a tie-breaker round to separate the winner from the loser. It was the Russian who took
an early mini-break and didn’t allow her rival to make a comeback into the contest.
In the second set, Kirilenko took a lead in the third game through a breakpoint and mounted a thumping score line of 3-1 against the German with a serve hold. The pressure was continuously on the 24th ranked Goerges
who did well to squeeze out crucial points in the following games but couldn’t tie the scores with a breakthrough.
In the final game of the match, the Russian broke serve after enforcing a deuce. It was a compact show from the 14th seed Kirilenko who has been criticized for not making into the advanced stages of the tournament on
regular terms. However, she has made an exception this time around and reached the group of last eight at London Olympics.
The main problem for the German superstar was in the category of unforced errors, 27 of them compared to just nine of her rivals. Overall, the 23-year-old German smashed 30 winners and bagged eight aces compared to just 13 and
two of her rival; not every time luck favours the brave.
Maria Kirilenko takes on sixth seed Czech, Petra Kvitova, in the next round.
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