Nadia Petrova thrashes Evgeniya Rodina
in main draw – Kremlin Cup 2011
Russian Nadia Petrova got rid of wildcard entrant Evgeniya Rodina in the main draw of the Kremlin Cup 2011. The two players took up the gauntlet on the indoor hard courts of the Olympic Stadium, Moscow and after a lengthy one hour
and forty four minutes the 29 year-old Russian, Petrova thrashed the younger Russian Rodina in straight sets of 6-4, 7-6(3) on Monday the 17th of October 2011.
Inaugurating the first round of the match was Petrova, who comfortably placed herself on the scoreboard at 1-0 with a hold of serve. Following in her footsteps was Rodina, who too placed herself beside Petrova at 1-1 with a hold
of serve. However in the third game as Petrova held serve, she then capitalized on a breakpoint to take the lead at 3-1 on the scoreboard.
In the following two games the players won on respective serves and the scoreboard had progressed to 4-2 with Petrova leading the game. However, Petrova’s backhand went haywire and she ended up bestowing a breakpoint to her adversary,
then held her serve and tied the score at 4-4. During the last two games Petrova got lucky as she held her serve and capitalized on a break to bag the opening set with a 6-4 victory.
The second set of the match was commenced by Petrova again and this time the players matched a blow for a blow as they first tied the score at 1-1, then 2-2. The toe-to-toe run carried well into the second set as they again went
neck-on-neck to level the score at 3-3 and then 4-4 by the end of the eighth game. Finally in the last four games the players again matched an eye for an eye and constantly bagged games on their alternate serves. Eventually the set was pushed into a tiebreaker
as neither player slipped and with extreme precision they kept bagging games.
The head-to-head lost steam in the tiebreaker after the first six points as the players had tied the score at 1-1 and then three points each. After that there was no stopping the higher ranked Russian and despite her age, her performance
outshone the younger Russian’s. With a series of breaks and holds the 29 year-old Petrova rushed past Rodina as she clinched the tiebreaker at 7-3.
Nadia Petrova not only won the match but also managed to secure a spot in the second round of the match where she will be facing compatriot Vera Dushevina.
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