Vania King slays Tsvetana Pironkova to reach round two – Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012
American rising star, Vania King, devastated the Bulgarian ace, Tsvetana Pironkova, with a bagel at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Monday. She nudged up a 6-0, 6-1 victory against the 24-year-old to breeze into the round of 32 at this WTA (Women’s
Tennis Association) clay court event taking place in Rome, Italy.
King triumphed over the Bulgarian number one in 67-minute long venture. Facing each other for the first time, the American reeled off the opening 10 games in a row to take lead in the head-to-head series by 1-0 against Pironkova at this Premier Five event.
The 23-year-old thundered into Foro Italico and went on a six-game killing spree and baked a bagel in almost half hour. She was never threatened with any barrier and capitalised on three out of five break chances to inch towards the fame.
Ranked 58th in the WTA Premier Rankings, King maintained her intensity in the follow-up set and stroke out the first five games successively before the Bulgarian could break back She broke her rival’s serve once again and pulled out the victory
with a breadstick. The American blocked one out of two breakpoints she faced and converted four out of 13 break opportunities to her advantage.
Summing up the American performance in this encounter, King produced a lower first serve share of 43 per cent as compared to the Bulgarian’s 59 per cent but spectacularly availed 10 out of 13 points on it.
Up next for King is the 12th seed, Angelique Kerber from Germany, who bounced back to overpower the Australian qualifier, Anastasia Rodionova, in three sets.
The 10th seed, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, became the casualty of the day. She suffered a 3-6, 4-6 defeat at the hands of the Russian rising star, Ekaterina Makarova, in one hour and 17 minutes. The Italian number one broke her rival’s serve
once but failed to block all four breakpoints she faced, eventually exiting from her town tournament.
Makarova on the other hand progressed to square-off against the winner of the match between Romania’s Simona Halep and the former world number one, Venus Williams.
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