Sloane Stephens rallies past Anna Chakvetadze to reach round two – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
In an-all qualifier battle, American teenager Sloane Stephens took down Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze in a tipsy-turvy three setter at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Tuesday. She summed up a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory against the 25-year-old to book a spot
in the second round at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event taking place in Rome, Italy.
The 19-year-old displayed awe-inspiring skills and abilities to outsmart Chakvetadze, ranked 337th in the WTA rankings, in their first meeting. After stealing the spotlight in one hour and 49 minutes, Stephens not only secured a place in the round
of 32 but also inched closer towards her maiden career title.
Stephens stormed into Foro Italico and went on a four-game tear before the Russian could hold on. Apart from losing her serve in the sixth game, the American pocketed the last two games and clinched the opener with a 6-2 score line.
The Moscow native rebounded in the following set and earned the coveted break in the fourth game to jump to a 4-1 lead. After the American held her serve again in the sixth game, Chakvetadze bagged the last two games and sealed the equaliser by winning six
games to two.
The world number 92 re-structured in the final set which matter the most. She earned the critical break in the fifth game put her nose ahead for the first time in this set. Regardless of losing her edge in the very next game, the American capitalised on
another break chance in the ninth game and clicked the decider with a 6-4 win.
All in all, Stephens clobbered 10 break chances and availed five of them to her advantage. She also manipulated a better first serve share of 64 per cent as compared to her rival’s 60 per cent and impressively clinched 31 out of 44 points on it.
Next up for the American is the local star, Flavia Pennetta, who shocked 16th seeded Maria Kirilenko with a breadstick to set-up this meeting. The Italian veteran was broken three times but cashed in half of the 12 break chances to nudge up a
6-1, 7-6(2) success.
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