Sara Errani sails into the second round of 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience
Eight seed Sara Errani of Italy came back from a set deficit to defeat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Italy.
Errani was delighted with her effort and aimed for similar results against the other top seed players at the tournament. The 23-year-old Italian has given significant results on the tour since the start of this season. Although she was knocked out in the
first round of the 2011 Brisbane, she came back strongly to record a quarter-final appearance at the 2011 Hobart a few weeks later.
She then continued her great form at the Pattaya City as well, reaching her first Women’s Tennis Association final of the year. Although Errani finished as a runner-up, she moved up the WTA rankings considerably. Just a couple of weeks ago she defeated Jarmila
Groth and Greta Arn in her opening two matches at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open before she fell to World Number 2, Kim Clijsters in a tight three setter.
As the first set started, World Number 43, Errani looked a bit out of sorts. She was unable to control her fore-hand and back-hand shots, as they landed outside the lines on several occasions. Her opponent Cirstea made the serve break in the second game
of the set and made the most of Errani’s inability to fight back, wrapping up the set in less than half an hour.
Errani controlled her nerves and came up with a better plan in the second set. Cirstea was on course for an easy win, but the Italian organised her game and started to time the ball really well. Errani made the crucial serve break early in the set and held
on to her serve games to level the set score 1-1.
The final set was played on a highly competitive note. Cirstea broke the serve first, but Errani made a double serve break to strengthen her position in the match. She then converted a long rally in her favour to complete her impressive win.
The 20-year-old Cirstea was disappointed at letting the opportunity slip away after she had established firm control over the contest. She earned crucial points with her powerful serves as she fired 4 aces in the contest, but was a no match to Errani’s high
class ground play.
Ranked 101 in the world, Cirstea was once ranked as high as World Number 23 in the WTA rankings. She won her maiden WTA title in Tashkent in 2008. However since then she has struggled to find her peak form experiencing a continuous drop in the WTA rankings.
Considering her abilities, tennis skills and talent she is expected to make a strong return to the WTA arena.
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