Maria Kirilenko scuttles past Victoria Larriere to reach round two – Roland Garros French Open 2012
World number 17, Maria Kirilenko, started the Roland Garros French Open with straight sets 6-1, 6-2 triumph over the 175th ranked French wildcard entrant, Victoria Larriere, on Tuesday.
The French player was struggling miserably with her form at the clay court; lost eight of her nine previous encounters. So, it was obvious that the Russian beauty queen will not have any sort of trouble in clearing the first stage
of the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. The same phenomenon was witnessed at the red dirt of Paris, France. Kirilenko dominated the match from the word ‘go’ and ended it at a high-note.
Kirilenko won four out of five points in her first serve and squandered a breakpoint in the second game; however that didn’t cost her much as she was able to convert the second opportunity in the fourth game but not before she
was tested rigorously on her serve by the 21-year-old French.
The Russian starlet continued to exert pressure on her rival and bagged another breakthrough in the sixth game; leading the scores 5-1. She dropped just two points on her final serve game of the opening set and cruised away with
a set lead.
Local participant was unable to handle despite having a lot of support from the home crowd. She left the crowd dejected especially after losing three consecutive breakthroughs in the second set at the start that gave an unassailable
lead of 5-0 to the Russian.
However, she restored some respect by breaking her opponent’s serve in the sixth game and dodging an embarrassing bagel. The cameo couldn’t last long as the Russian bounced back to win four successive points on her final serve
game of the match and booked a spot in the next round.
Next up for the Russian beauty queen is the Czech contender, Klara Zakopalova, who cleared the first round at the expense of the Ukrainian tennis professional, Lesia Tsurenko.
World number two, Maria Sharapova, also commenced her missing Grand Slam title hunt with a double bagel. It was a pretty good day for the Russians overall. They played aggressive tennis and were awarded for their efforts.
The biggest upset of the day was the first round exit of the former world number one, Serena Williams, who left the red dirt courts of Paris in tears. She was ousted by the French tennis ace, Virginie Razzano, who is ranked 111
in the world.
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