Maria Kirilenko slides past Elena Vesnina to round two – Kremlin Cup 2012
In an all-Russian contest, the 16th ranked Maria Kirilenko trounced the 65th ranked Elena Vesnina to book a spot in the second round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old Russian registered
her third win over Vesnina in the professional head-to-head battles taking an hour and 43 minutes at the hard courts of her home soil. Final scores were 7-5, 6-1 in favour of Kirilenko.
The seventh seed Russian started the contest with a serve hold and so did her rival. Both players tested each other in the following return games but weren’t successful. The see-saw score line continued for a couple of more games
that pushed the score line to 3-3. The major blow for Kirilenko came in the seventh game when her serve was broken by the wildcard entrant. She couldn’t win a break back despite a hard struggle and drowned to a trail of 3-5.
Vesnina prepared to serve for the set but couldn’t handle the scoreboard pressure and gifted the breakpoint to her rival who succeeded in keeping the set alive. Moreover, the seventh seed Russian broke serve again in the 12th
game to round off the opening set in favour. It was a remarkable comeback for Kirilenko who needed such a boost to raise her confidence.
The second set proved just a formality for the 16th ranked Russian. Both players held her serve in the opening two games and from that stage Kirilenko took hold of the proceedings; marshalled the opponent at her will
and smothered her way courtesy to a couple successive breakpoints. No mistake was committed by the 25-year-old Russian on her serves and she won the second set contest in just seven games.
It was very astonishing to witness the 26-year-old Russian losing out very cheaply in the second set after spraying an opportunity to win the opening battle. However, the deserving winner marched on into the second round of the
tournament where she will lock horns against the in-form Kazakh superstar, Yaroslava Shvedova.
The 29th ranked Shvedova is expected to give tough time to Kirilenko having showed immense talent and ability in the current season.
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