Maria Kirilenko earns a comeback victory over Varvara Lepchenko in the qualifiers – Sydney WTA 2012
Qualifying top seed, Maria Kirilenko, bounced back to overwhelm the resilience posed by the American, Varvara Lepchenko, in the contest at the Apia International Sydney 2012 on Friday. She registered a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) victory
over the American at the first round of the qualifiers at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier event taking place in Sydney, Australia.
The Russian rising star, Kirilenko required three sets and two and half hours to stomp over the American, ranked 127th in the WTA Premier rankings, on their second encounter. She not only maintained her winning streak
against Lepchenko but also inched closer to the main draw of this Australian Open build-up tournament.
The 25-year-old American easily swiped in the entire serves without facing any breakpoint in the opening set. She took full advantage of the several unforced errors the Russian coughed and capitalised on three out of seven break
chances, subsequently earning a breadstick.
World number 28, Kirilenko, re-focused in the second set and went into the overdrive mode to pull out the equaliser. She failed to defend both breakpoints she came across but converted four out of six break chances to her advantage,
registering an amazing 6-2 score line.
Both stars played their best tennis in the final set and after exchanging two breaks, the set went to a tie-breaker. The highest ranked player of the qualifiers, Kirilenko, prevailed it and sealed the decider with a 7-6(5) score
line.
Overall, the Russian spilled twelve double faults and several unforced errors. She also clobbered a lower first serve share of 62 percent as compared to the American’s 65 percent. However, Kirilenko clinched 36 out of 65 points
on its first serve and finished with 95 points.
Next up for wild card enterer, Kirilenko is the Swede, Sofia Arvidsson, who battled past Japanese Erika Sema in a three set thriller to reach this spot.
Third seeded Slovene, Polona Hercog, will join the top seed in the second round of the qualifying competition. She registered a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over the Romanian Elena Bogdan in an hour 18-minute long marathon in their first
duel with each other.
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