Svetlana Kuznetsova devastates Alison Riske in the first round battle – ASB Classic 2012
World number 19, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, blew away the world number 136, Alison Riske of America, in the first round of ASB Classic tournament on Tuesday. Both contestants locked horns for the second time in her career
at hard courts in Auckland, New Zealand and the third seeded Russian doubled her head-to-head tally against the American with a straight set 6-3, 6-2, triumph in a one sided contested that lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes.
Both participants squared off against each other last year in Melbourne and surprisingly Russian managed to bag the win with the exact score line as she did on Tuesday. It seemed like a practice court for the Russian before
she ended up with one of the toughest competitors of the tournament. The field was completely owned by the 26-years-old Russian who didn’t waste a single opportunity to pound on the American.
Riske started the proceedings in grand style, breaking her opponent’s serve and holding on to her own to take 2-0 lead. No breaks were seen in the next three games before the Russian bounced back with a massive double handed
backhand winner down the line to clinch the first break for herself and level the score at 3-3.
She held her serve and broke once again to take the scoreboard to 5-3 in her favour. Last serve game for Kuznetsova was merely a practice court session as she smashed couple of aces to finish off the proceedings of the first
set.
Start to the second set was a bit surprising for everybody, as both players exchanged breaks in the first two games; the drama didn’t end here as the Russian broke once again and held her serve to take two games lead and
push the score to 3-1.
Riske was not feeling comfortable at that stage and was suffering to generate pace, appearing worn out and rusty. She moved aimlessly across the court and didn’t try to pull one game back with a break in order to level the
scores.
Both players hung on to their serve in the next two games and score moved to 4-2 in favour of Kuznetsova. Riske served again half heartedly and the Russian took advantage of that; smashed couple of volleys that sailed past
the American and helped her with yet another serve break which prolonged her lead. Final game was easily won by the third seed Russian, who marched on into the next round of the tournament in style.
Svetlana Kuznetsova locks horns with the Christina Mchale of America in the next round of the tournament.
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