Maria Kirilenko outplays Christina McHale in the second round brawl – BNP Paribas Open 2013
Russian beauty queen, Maria Kirilenko, cleared the opening hurdle of 2013 BNP Paribas Open, overcoming the local youngster, Christina McHale, on Friday. The world number 15 battled hard for two hours and 32 minutes to settle the
three-setter at 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, booking a berth in the third round of this WTA Premier Mandatory event in Indian Wells, USA.
It was a pretty stiff battle in the opening two sets of the match, with both players exchanging lusty blows and trying to get the better of one another. The 20-year-old American managed to bag the opening set and it appeared as
if she is well on course of registering a big upset in the tournament. However, the Russian diva turned the tide in the following set, manoeuvring her way to bring the set score back on even terms. Once getting into her winning groove, Kirilenko never looked
back in the deciding set and concluded her 11th victory of the running WTA season with a breadstick.
The 13th seed Russian was delighted to have such convincing beginning at Indian Wells and hopes to bag more victories in the encounters to come. "I was out for four weeks - I got injured in Doha, withdrew from Dubai
and didn't practice for 10 days," Kirilenko said in her post match reviews. "It's always difficult to start again after such a long time off. The injury is good now, though. And before this I was in Washington where it was freezing, and I practiced outside
there, so I was used to these cold conditions. So it wasn't too much of an adjustment for me, really!"
Kirilenko defeated McHale in the third round of 2011 US Open Championships, 6-2, 6-3, but had to work a bit harder to take down the crafty youngster this time round. She secured 31 out of 51 points on her first serve and nailed
six out of eight break points en route to victory. McHale could barely register four out of her nine break opportunities to finish on the losing side.
Kirilenko will face either Mallory Burdette of the United States or the 23rd seed Austrian, Tamira Paszek, in the third round of the tournament.
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