Nineteenth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia is all set to face unseeded Anastasia Rodionova in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships at the All-England Club. Rodionova was born in Russia but was recently naturalized as an Australian, which she’s representing in this tournament.
Both players needed the full three sets to get past their respective first round opponents. Kuznetsova dispatched Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Rodionova had a bit of a tougher time before beating Great Britain’s Anne Keothavong 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, in an 80 minute battle.
Rodionova had to overcome 54 unforced errors (as opposed to only 31 winners) in order to pull out the gutsy victory. This is an unusually high number of errors and she would do well not to repeat that in her second round match versus Kuznetsova, as she cannot afford to give away free points to the world number 19 player. So numerous were her errors that she constantly had to argue with the chair umpire over line calls and such. She cannot do this against Kuznetsova, as she needs her full concentration and mental fitness to be spot-on during the upcoming match.
Kuznetsova is not an easy player to play against, especially on grass. The former Wimbledon quarterfinalist is known as an all-around player who has a strong serve and big forehand to boot. Add that to the fact that she is adept at the net and is capable of coming in and producing volley winners if needed. Her first round opponent Amanmuradova found this out the hard way.
Kuznetsova and Rodionova have faced each other three times before this next meeting. Kuznetsova won each of the matches handily, dropping only one set in the process. All three meetings were in Grand Slam events, but this is the first time they will be meeting in Wimbledon – their first meeting on grass. It looks like it’s going to be Kuznetsova’s fourth win over her former compatriot.
Kuznetsova is a smart player who makes few errors. In her first round match, she made a total of just 13, despite it going the distance of three sets. That is such an alarming contrast especially taking into account Rodionova’s 54 in her own match. If, in their second round match, the disparity is equal or similar, expect Kuznetsova to walk over the Australian. In fact, it is surprising that Rodionova managed to escape out of that first round with those errors.
Rodionova managed a win thanks to her resilience, and she needs to pull it out again if she has any hope of beating the Russian. She was down 0-4 in the final set before winning six games in a row, a remarkable feat.
Rodionova’s previous best result in Wimbledon was reaching the second round. Unfortunately for her, Svetlana Kuznetsova is too good an opponent for her to defeat. It looks as if her best result will still remain the same.
The only way Anastasia Rodionova can beat Kuznetsova is if she plays near-perfect tennis, committing very few errors while hitting winners and coming into the net and putting pressure on Kuznetsova to hit passing shots. At the same time, Kuznetsova has to give her a few points thanks to unforced errors. The chances of these happening in one match are very remote. Not to mention that she has to keep her cool and not be arguing with the umpire.
Bold Prediction: Kuznetsova in straight sets win over Rodionova
Sventlana Kuznetsova will have little trouble with Anastasia Rodionova. A straight sets win is in order, although Rodionova will fight for every point. Although the injury could certainly give her a hard time, Kuznetsova will eventually find a way through it.
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