Maria Kirilenko defeats Varvara Lepchenko in first round of Family Circle Cup
Russian tennis player Maria Kirilenko proved pundits right by defeating American pro Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets in the first round of the 2011 Family Circle Cup, ousting the player in a little over an hour and seventeen
minutes. This is the first time that the two players have met on the court.
Kirilenko is currently ranked World Number 28, and is seeded ninth at this year’s Family Circle Cup. She is 24 years old, and has been playing tennis in a professional capacity since she turned fifteen. The Russian pro joined the
Women’s Tennis Association in 2001, and has spent almost ten years on Tour. To date, she has won five WTA career titles. Despite the fact that she has lost more matches than she has won so far this year, she was predicted to win against Lepchenko. On a day
of numerous upsets, her victory came as a sign of encouragement to many highly-ranked pros.
Varvara Lepchenko, on the other hand, is currently ranked World Number 78 and has been part of the WTA tour for over ten years. She joined as a professional player in 2001, and is currently 24 years old. The player resides in Allentown,
USA, and has lost seven of the ten matches she has played so far this year.
The match was an easy one for Kirilenko, who faced minimal difficulty in the first set. Lepchenko was still in form during this part of the match, and did her best to give Maria Kirilenko a run for her money in the opening set.
She scored one ace, while both players committed one double fault apiece. Kirilenko broke serve four times, and it proved to be the winning factor when she concluded the match with a bagel in the second set. The Russian player took away 59 per cent of the
total points in the match to set up a winning scoreline of 6-4, 6-0.
Maria Kirilenko will take on qualifier Anna Tatishvili of Georgia in the second round of the 2011 Family Circle Cup.
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