Serena Williams routs Galina Voskoboeva in the opening round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Booming world number six, Serena Williams, had no troubles at all to take off her Internazionali BNL d’Italia, disposing of the 46th ranked Kazakh contender, Galina Voskoboeva, in the opening round on Tuesday. The former
world number one took barely 71 minutes to wrap up the two sets at 6-2, 6-3, marching into the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier 5 event in Rome, Italy.
The 30-year-old American power house was absolutely unplayable throughout the contest, belting assertive winners to all corners of the clay court on regular occasions to dismantle the confidence of her opponent. The Kazakh contender
was found struggling the whole time, with most of her shots landing long and wide of the court to gift easy points to Serena. 27-year-old Voskoboeva was facing the 13-time Grand Slam winner for the first time in her career and proved a total mismatch to her.
She was thrashed by the American in a brutal fashion, forcing her to fall out of the star-studded tournament draw in dismay.
"It was nice to be back on red clay - it's thicker and true to Roland Garros," Serena said after registering her 24th victory of the running season. "Galina played really well. I can see why she has started doing much
better. I like her game - she tries different things and is a great fighter."
30-year-old Serena delivered 62 per cent of her serve on target and secured 25 out of 33 first serve points en route to victory. She converted four of her six break opportunities in the match, whilst Voskoboeva could merely register
one serve break in the entire contest to finish on the losing side in the end. Serena’s fiery forehand worked perfectly for her in the contest and she kept striking thumping winner at will. She spared just five games for the Kazakh opponent before sealing
her comprehensive victory in style.
The ninth seed American will square off against the Russian veteran, Nadia Petrova, in the second round clash of the Rome Masters later this week. Petrova reigned supreme over the bleak Czech qualifier, Andrea Hlavackova, 6-3,
6-3, in the opening round draw.
"She's beaten me a lot. I hope I can finally win a match against her," Serena said of Petrova in her post match reviews on Tuesday. The American leads 6-3 over the Russian in the all-time head-to-head series and is the hot favourite
for lifting the coveted trophy in Rome.
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