Mattek-Sands/Mirza cripple Erakovic/Niculescu to reach round two – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
American-Indian junction, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza, devastated the Kiwi-Romanian collaboration, Marina Erakovic and Monica Niculescu, with a breadstick at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Monday. They jolted down a 6-2, 6-1 victory against their opponents’ to breeze into the second round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event held in Rome, Italy.
The first time pairing of Mattek-Sands and Mirza displayed exceptional co-ordination to crush their rivals in straight sets. After bagging this match in 55 minutes, the American-Indian collaboration secured a spot in the pre-quarters at this red clay court event.
Mattek-Sands and Mirza sluggishly entered Foro Italico and suffered the first blow in the opening game to fall at 0-2. However they unleashed flurry of powerful groundstrokes and went on six-game killing spree, ultimately sealing the opener with a 6-2 win.
The American-Indian tandem kept momentum rolling into the following set and earned the coveted break in the second game to leap to a 3-0 lead. After Erakovic and Niculescu held their serve in the fourth game, the newly formed pair stroke out the last three games to pocket the breadstick.
All in all, the winning formation of Mattek-Sands and Mirza clobbered a better first serve share of 73 per cent as compared to their rivals’ 58 per cent and impressively marked 23 out of 35 points on it. The also amazingly warded off six out of seven breakpoints they faced and cashed in five out of seven break opportunities to earn the limelight.
Up next for the beaming pair is the top seeded American tandem, Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, who received a bye into the second round after being the top seeds here.
The Slovakian duo of Dominika Cibulkova and Janette Husarova also stole the show later that day. They manipulated a 6-2, 6-2 victory against the local wild card entrants, Nastassja Burnett and Alexia Virgili, in straight sets 61 minutes. Cibulkova and Husarova smoothly pocketed their entire serves and capitalised on four out of nine break chances to formulate a 6-2, 6-2 success. They also nudged up a better first serve share and impressively marked 23 out of 32 points on it.
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