Mariya Koryttseva puts Anastasiya Yakimova to shame in the 2nd round – Baku Cup 2011
Wednesday 20th of July 2011 saw the start of the second round of the Baku Cup 2011, Baku, Azerbaijan. The first two players to play the match were old time rivals Mariya Koryttseva against Anastasiya Yakimova. However,
The Ukrainian won the match 6-2,7-5 in an exciting 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 13 seconds.
The two players and previously contested against each other four times in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2010. This was the fifth match to be played, and therefore, were familiar with each other’s style, skill and technique. The First time
they met was at the Deauville Cup, France where Yakimova had won the match 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3. A year later they then met again in 2004 at the Belarus Open, Minsk, Belarus where Yakimova had won with 6-2, 6-3. The third and last time Yakimova won her rival was
at the Dunlop Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, Miami where she had battled it out on a hard court winning 7-5, 6-1. The fourth and the last time both the players had contested at the Canella Challenger, Biella 2010 where both the players fought
each other on clay courts. Although Yakimova had straight three victories over her opponent in their head-to-head this time the Higher Power finally let Mariya have her share of winning and she succeeded in clenching 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of Biella Championships.
The match was set and the score read (Yakimova) 3-1 (Mariya) in their head-to-head, and serving first with great confidence was Mariya who not only threw an ace but had extreme precision and struck no double faults. She managed
a commendable eighty five percent of the first serves in the opening set along with an exceptional return game; she stood like a barricade defending and bouncing back everything that came her way. She was also able to win seventy five percent of her break
points. Whereas, her opponent (Yakimova) had a meagre forty seven percent of the first serves in the opening set and had committed three unforced errors. Mariya was on fire and won the set 6-2 with not only an exceptional serve along with a return game but
her defence was also firm. It was a comprehensive victory for Mariya winning almost double the points of her opponents in the total set score.
After taking a beating in the first set Yakimova had learnt her lesson and although she didn’t ace, she kept hanging in the match. Even though her overall performance in this set was far better than the previous one, she still
lacked numbers. Yakimova’s accuracy had faltered again and this time she struck three double faults out of which two hit the net and one was a line fault. Mariya on the other hand was not performing like she did in the previous set. Although the game was rallying
between both the players and it was a close match, Mariya had more points in her game and won because of winning eighty percent of her break points. She won the match and both the sets with a 2-0 lead.
Across the board the score card saw Mariya throw one ace, struck four double faults and had won fifty five percent of her total match points.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian, Mariya Koryttseva has now won two games in row against her competitor in their head-to-head and the score card now reads as 3-2. She will now be facing either compatriot Kateryna Bondarenko or the Russian
Ekaterina Makarova in the third round of the Baku Cup 2011.
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