Svetlana Kuznetsova dispenses Agnes Szavay out of the Andalucia Tennis Experience
World number 14 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia continued to impress tennis fans by winning her second round clash against the unseeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary at the Andalucia Tennis Experience at Marbella, Spain on Wednesday noon. The second seeded Russian booked a berth in the quarter-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament by winning the three-set matchup 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2, in two hours and twenty one minutes.
25-year-old Kuznetsova kept her 100 per cent winning record against the Hungarian, extending her impressive head-to-head lead to 5-0 at Marbella. It was the 14th victory for the Russian in the current WTA season, showing the vintage class of the former world number two. Kuznetsova was just two games away to suffer a defeat at the hands of Mona Barthel in the first round on Tuesday, but displayed great determination this time round to recover from a one set early deficit.
“The difference between today and yesterday is like day and night," said Kuznetsova in her post match reviews, “Today was much better. I was starting to feel the clay court better, sliding, playing with lots of spin. It was hard to adjust yesterday, but today I am closer to where I feel I should be.”
The two contestants had an aggressive start to the contest and exchanged assertive winners to keep the score board ticking on equal terms. They both broke twice to take the score to 6-6, imposing a tie breaker to decide. Szavay took command of the tie breaker by some quality down the line winners and raced past the Russian to seal the opener at 7-6(2).
The second seeded Russian made a terrific comeback in the next set and took down her opponent with her attacking tennis. She collected 17 out of 23 serve points in the second set and pinched two break points to rocket away to 5-1. Kuznetsova closed out the second set at 6-1 and levelled the contest 1-1.
Once getting her momentum front the second set, Kuznetsova never turned back and keep on pressing her opponent to submit the contest. She served brilliantly with 7 per cent accuracy and bagged 12 of 17 first serve points in the third set. Apart from a serve break from the Hungarian in the fourth game, Kuznetsova rarely faced a serious challenge from her opponent.
The Russian took 30 out of 51 total points in the third set to close victory at 6-2 and advance to the quarters of the Andalucia Tennis Experience. She will have to wait to know her quarter-final opponent until the clash between Sandra Zahlvova of Czech Republic and the Spanish wildcard Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino is settled. The winner of the match will play against Kuznetsova in the round of eight at Marbella.
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