Roberta Vinci, Yanina Wickmayer move into the third round – UNICEF Open 2011
Number seven seed Roberta Vinci eased past Romanian tennis-pro Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday to advance in to the third round of 2011 UNICEF Open here in Hertogenbosch.
Looking to pressurise her opponent, Vinci made an aggressive start to the match. Using the “serve and charge” method on the green surface effectively, she was able to clinch crucial points throughout the contest. Breaking her opponent’s
serve thrice in the opening set, the Italian raced to 5-1 lead. Breaking back, Dulgheru managed to restore some of the lost pride. However, Vinci continued to play her natural game with confidence as she claimed the set 6-2.
The second set followed a very similar pattern with the 28-year-old Vinci dominating almost all departments of the game. She broke her opponent in second game of the set to put herself in the driving set. Placing her lovely forehand
and backhand winners all over the court, she made three match points available to her and then converted the first one to end the match that lasted for only 56 minutes.
Serving big, the world number 30 converted 72 percent of the points on her serve. Asserting her dominance in the serve return department, Vinci secured 56 percent of the points at the receiving end. Breaking the serve five times
in the match, she was able to come up with the right combination of shots whenever it was required. After starting the year 2011 with her sixth Women’s Tennis Association triumph at Hobart, she has struggled to find her form on the tour. Having admirable grass-court
skills, Vinci will be hoping to reach the final stages of the tournament with consistent performances.
Meanwhile Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium also secured a quarterfinal berth at the WTA tournament with a hard fought 7-6 (4), 6-7(4), 7-5 victory over Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja.
The match was played on an extremely competitive note. After the contestants exchanged serve breaks, the opener went into a tie-breaker. Clinching four straight points in the tie-breaker, Wickmayer was able to extend her lead to
take the tiebreaker 7-4 and go one up in the set score.
Making a brilliant fight back, Santonja showed her class and determination as she broke the serve regularly to force the second set into a tie-breaker as well. Dashing a big forehand winner down the line, she evened the set score
to shift the balance of the match.
With the game score tied at 5-5 in the final set, the number three seed Wickmayer made her sixth serve break of the match. Holding on to her next serve game, she sealed victory in a thrilling setter. In the quarterfinal, she will
be facing Robert Vinci of Italy.
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