Sara Errani crushes Jie Zheng to secure a spot in the quarter-finals – Australian Open 2012
Italian ace, Sara Errani, flashed past the Chinese competitor, Jie Zheng, with a breadstick at the Australian Open 2012 on Monday. She clobbered a 6-2, 6-1 success over the 28-year-old Chinese to advance into the final eight at this first Grand Slam event
taking place in Melbourne, Australia.
“I very much like the heat, I’ve always preferred when it is very hot than when it’s a bit cold. I like to feel the heat on my body. I think I can adapt better then who I am playing,” The Italian said before the match. “Here in Melbourne, the first two days
[of the Australian Open] it was very, very hot. I prefer it to be even hotter.”
The Italian star adapted to the conditions and unleashed her true colours at the Melbourne Park. After dumping Zheng, she not only maintained her winning streak against the Chinese but also booked a quarter-final spot at this major hard court tournament
which holds prize money of $2.3 million for the winner.
World number 48, Errani flashed into the Margaret Court Arena and wiped out the opening four games in a row before the Chinese snatched a break back. Despite failing to hold her following serves, she broke Zheng’s serve twice again and bagged the opener
with a 6-2 victory.
Errani saved two out of five breakpoints she faced but capitalised on four out of seven break opportunities to prevail in the 44 minutes set. She hammered less number of winners but also committed fewer unforced errors which made the difference.
After Zheng held her opening serve in the following set, the Italian went into the rage mode and stroke out the last five games in a row, earning the breadstick in 42 minutes. She swiped in entire serves without facing any obstacle and cashed in both break
chances.
Overall, the 24-year-old Italian produced a higher first serve share of 78 percent as opposed to Zheng’s 65 percent and clinched an acceptable 58 percent win on it. She smashed only ten winners but spilled 18 unforced errors as compared to the Chinese’s
47, which let her triumph the match.
Next challenge for Errani is the world number two, Petra Kvitova, who upset the gorgeous Serb, Ana Ivanovic, in straight sets to set-up this encounter. Kvitova overcome resilience in the end to seal the deal with a 6-2, 7-6(2) score line against the Serb.
She lost her serve twice but broke Ivanovic’s serve six times to progress at this tournament.
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