Olga Savchuk upsets eighth seed Evgeniya Rodina in opening round –Budapest Grand Prix 2011
Ukrainian tennis player Olga Savchuk came back from a set deficit to defeat Evgeniya Rodina of Russia 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to book her place in the second round of 2011 Budapest Grand Prix in Hungary. Savchuk made a very shaky start to
the match as she committed a large number of unforced errors in the opening set. However, as the match progressed she upped her game play and made a sensational come back to record a major upset.
Looking for a place in the second round, Savchuk looked a bit out of sorts as the match started. She struggled to get any timing on her shots and missed easy opportunities. Number eight seed Rodina took complete advantage of the
situation and broke her opponent twice in the opening set to take an impassable game score lead. Regrouping herself, Savchuk put up a great fight to stay in the set but she couldn’t stop her opponent from earning a well deserved set score lead 1-0.
Savchuk made an unbelievable come back in the following set. She looked down and out at the end of the first set as she was short of confidence. However, she was unstoppable in the second set as she smashed her wonderful forehand
and backhand winners all over the court. Breaking the serve three times in the set, she took complete control of the contest. And although Rodina broke back once, she failed to recover from the heavy blows inflicted on her by the challenger.
The final set followed a similar pattern with Savchuk dominating all aspects of the game. She broke the serve at regular intervals and made her opponent’s strategy look completely ineffective. Using her well disguised drop shots
to great effect, she earned points at crucial moments. Dropping only a game in the set, she sealed an emphatic victory in match that lasted for more than 2 hour and 1 minute.
Showing great defensive skills, she claimed more than 52 per cent of the points on her opponent’s serve. She made most of the chances that came her way by converting six out of nine break points in the match.
Rodina also had her chances to break but she managed to win only three out of nine break points and hence paid the price. She is an experienced professional and she is expected to come back strongly on her next Women’s Tennis Association
tour appearance.
Savchuk will take on either Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine or local wild card entrant Katalin Marosi.
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