Maria Kirilenko sweeps away Olga Govortsova in the quarter-final – New Haven Open 2012
World number 14, Maria Kirilenko, bounced over the Belarusian qualifier, Olga Govortsova, to qualify for the semi-final of the New Haven Open at Yale. She registered straight sets scores of 6-1, 6-2; taking an hour and 23 minutes
at the hard courts of New Haven.
It was the maiden contest between the two athletes so there were no obvious mind games or pre-planned moves that were used by either player to dismantle the confidence of her rival.
World number 82, Govortsova, started the clash in dismal fashion; dropped the opening serve game that forced her to an early trail of three games. Things never looked good for the 24-year-old Belarusian who struggled to dart in
the pace-filled serves that could have confused her opponent.
Kirilenko sustained the pressure on her opponent and didn’t allow easy points; forced her to dig deep and earn the points. The continuous stress on Govortsova affected her game play and she committed several unforced errors that
gifted another breakpoint to her rival in the sixth game.
It looked miserable for the Belarusian who was trailing 1-5 and her opponent serving for the set. The Russian seventh seed made no mistake in the following game and won the opening set with ease.
A commanding beginning to the second set helped the 25-year-old Russian to take control of the proceedings right from the word go. She was close on winning the breakpoint in the first game of the set but sprayed an easy return
wide and squandered the golden opportunity.
However, the damage was minimized as the Russian won a breakthrough in the third game and took an unassailable lead of 3-1 after a very tight serve hold.
Govortsova didn’t take her chances and that led to her downfall. She lost a breakpoint in the seventh game of the second set that forced her to drown to a trail of 2-5 with her competitor serving for the set.
Once again, the in-form Russian made no mistake in ousting her opponent and won the battle to confirm an all seeded semi-final clashes at New Haven.
She will take on the defending champion, Caroline Wozniacki, on Friday.
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