Roberta Vinci gains form at the right time for the US Open – Tennis Special
Final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open, starts at the Flushing Meadows in New York today. On the women’s side, most of the attention will be on the top five players i.e. Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Sharapova,
Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova.
However, Italy’s Roberta Vinci has rung alarm bells with her recent performance that she would be out there to make a couple of upsets at the final Grand Slam of the season.
The Italian star has jumped four places in the WTA Rankings by winning the warm event in Dallas. Vinci, who was seeded third in the draw, won her first WTA title of the season by overpowering former world number one from Serbia,
Jelena Jankovic, in the Texas Open final on Saturday.
The 29-year-old needed two hours and one minute to beat the Serbian star in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 and capture the crown.
Jankovic was first to take lead, as she struck in the opening game of the match and won her next serve to move ahead 2-0. However, Vinci fought back to even out the proceedings at 3-3. Jankovic broke her Italian opponent again
in the ninth game but could not serve it out in the following one, losing her serve and squaring it off at 5-5. The Serbian contender failed in claiming any point in the 11th and could not her subsequent serve to go down 5-7.
Vinci had a low first serve percentage of 47, grabbing 15 of the 21 points on them. She also fared pretty averagely on the second ones, as she lost 14 of the 24 points on them. However, the Italian participant was the better player
on crucial situations, putting away four of the six break threats she came across and utilising three of the eight she created in the opener.
Ranked 19th in the world, Vinci came roaring in the second set, breaking her Serbian rival in the second game and consolidating on it to take a 3-0 lead. Jankovic came back in style, winning three in a row to equalise
it at 3-3. However, Vinci hit once again in the eighth and this time she did not allow Jankovic to bounce back, sealing it 6-3.
Vinci said, talking to the media people at the end of the encounter, "I think we played a really good final. I was up a set and 3-0 and had a lot of chances to keep going, but she came back to 3-all. She's such a good player -
she was No.1 in the world a few years ago - so at the beginning of the match I was a little bit nervous. But I just tried to stay relaxed and keep going for my shots and although we were both very tired, I made it. It was a tough week, a tough draw, a tough
final - I'm so happy I won!"
This was the Italian star’s seventh title of her career on the WTA tour but first on outdoor hard courts.
Vinci is drawn to meet Poland’s Urszula Radwanska in the first round of the US Open.
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