Mirjana Lucic muscles past Elena Vesnina in the second round of qualifier – AEGON International 2011
World number 91, Croat Mirjana Lucic defeated Elena Vesnina of Russia in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of qualifying draw at the 2011 AEGON International on Monday. The Croat pro needed one hour and two minutes to
breeze through to the final qualifying round of AEGON International.
In an aggressive presentation of resolute defence, fine serving and bewitching groundstrokes, Lucic proved to be too strong for Vesnina, breaking her serve not fewer than four times in the match. In truth, it was very hard to see
how the Russian player had chalked up a recent clay-court success over the seventh-seeded pair of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, before losing to the Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the final round of 2011 French Open. But, playing her
second round match against the Croat, Vesnina was nowhere near her best performance as her serve was toothless and so was her resolve in the backcourt rallies.
As the first set started, the Russian tennis ace became more and more passive and erratic, conceding big points for fun, as Lucic scored time and again with her powerhouse forehand and crafty drop shots. The German pro managed
to break the Russian in the second game and consolidating on it, nabbing a 2-1 lead. The Croat broke again in the fifth game and held her serve in the next game to race to 5-2 lead. The 5-ft-11 inch Croat hit a backhand winner down the line, closing out the
first set 6-2.
Lucic fired two aces and 68 percent of her first serve, nabbing 80 percent of points behind them. By contrast, Vesnina delivered 65 percent of her first serve, claiming a lot lower percentage of 47 percent as opposed to her opponent’s
80 percent. Lucic saved 100 percent of break points to take the first set without much fuss.
The final set began in a similar vein, with the Croat seemingly able to break her Russian opponent with the same pattern. Although Vesnina opened her shoulders to produce some spirited serving and dogged rallying in the opening
games of the set, Lucic was simply doing everything better than the Russian.
Lucic troubled her Russian opponent with her first serve winning percentage as she won 100 percent of points off her 48 percent first serve. Not to mention, she also saved 100 percent of break point opportunities en route to the
final round of qualifier, where she will be meeting Anne Keothavong of United Kingdom for the second time in her career. The first time, Lucic faced Keothavong was at the second round of Auckland where the Brit defeated the Croat to lead their head-to-head
1-0.
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