Sorana Cirstea sees off Sofia Arvidsson in the opener – China Open 2012
World number 29, Sorana Cirstea, commenced the tour of Beijing with a cracking triumph over the 41st ranked Swede, Sofia Arvidsson. She won the encounter in straight sets 6-2, 6-3; trouncing her rival in just a couple
of minutes above the hour time.
The head-to-head scores between the two contenders were tied at 2-2 before the clash start. So, there was equal probability of the upset in the match. However, the last two face-offs were clinched by the 22-year-old Romanian so
the odds did tilt in her favour considering the superior rank and the recent form.
Cirstea opened up the match proceedings after losing the toss. She flattered her opponent with fast and accurate serves that gave her the lead in the match. However, the 28-year-old Swede wasn’t intimidated by the onslaught from
her rival and stayed focused on her serve to make it 1-1. Cirstea capitalized on their serves on the second occurrence as well and pushed the scores to 2-1. She was playing extremely well and the following game opened up the set for her as she trounced her
opponent to win a breakthrough that gave her a lead of 3-1.
Further problems were enforced on the Swede superstar who failed to break serve back and drowned to a trail of 1-4. The Romanian looked all set to end the encounter in a flash and she did that after winning the second breakthrough
in just the eighth game of the match. Arvidsson wasn’t allowed to play her natural game and was tied down completely with some powerful hitting from the 22-year-old Romanian.
The second set start gave a bit of a test to the Romanian who had to survive three deuces in the opening game before holding her serve. It was a good start from the Swede professional who was looking to make an early impact and
extend the match to the decider.
Despite a sloppy start, the first breakthrough went in favour of the Romanian and she capitalized on her serves to keep the lead intact throughout the rest of the set. She will face the second seed Russian star, Maria Sharapova,
in the following round.
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