Maria Kirilenko ousts Sara Errani in the first round – New Haven Open 2011
Finally, the world number 26, Maria Kirilenko of Russia, broke her losing streak against the Italian competitor, Sara Errani, defeating her in the opening round of New Haven Open at Yale on Monday.
It took two hours and twenty one minutes of play for Kirilenko to overcome Errani in straight sets 7-5, 7-5, after an enthralling contest on the hard courts of the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut, United
States. It was just the 16th victory for the Russian in the running year and it propelled her in to the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Series event.
It was a thrilling game of tennis with both contestants putting in their best effort to take the better of one another. Kirilenko served with 66 per cent precision, coughing four double faults and reeling off 36 out of 58 first
serve points to come out as the winner in the end. She was closely followed by her opponent but the Russian veteran kept her focus in the game to remain on top all the way through.
A total of 176 points were played in the match and Kirilenko reeled off 94 out of them, while the remaining 82 were secured by the Italian contestant. The opener took off with an early trade of serve breaks from both contestants
but the Russian kept on pressing hard to craft another vital break point conversion towards the end to wrap up the first set at 7-5.
Lot more intense tennis was witnessed in the second set, with a number of serve breaks being exchanged from both ends. Errani struck two break point conversions in the set but had to suffer three from the Russian opponent to submit
the matchup at 5-7, sending Kirilenko in the second round of New Haven Open at Yale to meet the world number seven, Li Na, of China for a place in the quarter-finals. Being the second seed in the tournament, Li Na received a bye to play directly in to the
second round of the tournament.
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