Roberta Vinci on course to her third title in four years in Barcelona – Tennis News
Roberta Vinci, the fourth seed Italian contestant, in the Barcelona Ladies Open opened her account of the clay court season with a win but it wasn’t a comprehensive triumph for her. She was up against the French starlet, Mathilde
Johansson, and dropped the second set on her way to an hour and 38 minutes clash.
In a post-match interview, she said, “I was nervous in the match today. It was my first match back on clay so I had to adjust, but then the second set was much better for me. I started being more aggressive and played with much
more confidence."
This place has a special place in Vinci’s heart. She registered her first title win in Barcelona, way back in 2009, and almost had a successful defence of her crown in the following year but lost the top seed compatriot, Francesca
Schiavone. However, she played extremely well last year and grabbed the crown back.
She has an emphatic record of 15-1 in this city; loves playing on Red Clay courts and looks to bag another title this year. She was ecstatic to be back in Barcelona, defending her title. She stated, “I'm very happy to be here again."
It would be a good morale booster for her if she manages to win the title this year as well. She will enter the clay court Grand Slam championship, the Roland Garros French Open, at a high-note and possibly register few upsets.
She is currently ranked 18 in the world and another title triumph will enhance her ranking further and inch her few steps closer to her career long dream of breaking into the Top-10 players of the world. Currently, she is enjoying
her career-high ranking.
Vinci has performed consistently in Open GDF Paris, BNP Paribas Open and the Sony Ericsson Open. She was the semi-finalist in the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco; lost to the reigning champion, Sara Errani, who is also participating
in Barcelona Ladies Open as the seventh seed player.
Major victories for the Italian tennis ace include the likes of the Romanian starlet, Simona Halep, and the gorgeous Slovak tennis ace, Dominika Cibulkova. According to her post-match interview, she seems shaky and not firm in
her faith of having successful title defence but as the matches will go on, she will gain confidence and probably be the most difficult player to be beaten at this surface.
It will be interesting to see who will step up to dethrone the reigning champion of Barcelona.
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