Varvara Lepchenko upsets Flavia Pennetta in opening match at 2011 Roland Garros
America’s Varvara Lepchenko wrapped up the day’s action with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the first round of 2011 French Open.
The match began with Lepchenko breaking the service motion of her Italian opponent 1-0. Pennetta, who was broken down, continued to struggle and managed to get herself back into the set 3-4. Lepchenko then composed herself and
held her own serve and managed to win the first set without any hesitation. Although she double faulted at a crucial moment, she kept herself together and served it out against the eighteenth seed.
At the beginning of the second set Lepchenko was on top of the Pennetta service right away, breaking Pennetta’s opening service game. But the start of the second set was not to go all Lepchenko's way, as she double faulted at the
critical moment and then Pennetta quickly played a tremendous cross court forehand off the Lepchenko’s serve to close out the second set.
The third set was where it all went downhill for Pennetta, broken once again in a tightly fought set. Both players held serve, but the spark seemed to have gone out of the Italian as she could not save her match. As a seeded player,
she had to be the favourite player from here, but she did not catch up with her opponent’s pace and lost the third set in a very miserable manner. Pennetta could have won the match but double faulting on her fourth match point, she easily allowed her American
opponent to claim the win.
Her win over the world number nineteen Pennetta is her second career top 20 win, after defeating then world number eighteen Patty Schnyder of Switzerland in the first round of 2009 MPS Group championships with a 6-2, 6-0 score
line. She has also improved her year-to-date win loss mark to 9-12.
"I just kept fighting and trying not to think about anything, but the thoughts were creeping in my mind," Lepchenko, said. "A lot of it is mental. It's not only about your fitness. It's 50-50 - you have to be ready both mentally
and physically."
She now moves on ahead to face compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round of the tournament. Mattek-Sands leads their head-to-head record by 3-1. Lepchenko is playing some good tennis at the moment, but she has historically
had trouble performing well in front of her compatriot and opponent Mattek-Sands, who has won all of their previous three encounters. Mattek-Sands advanced to the quarterfinal at Madrid, defeating Francesca Schiavone before losing to Li Na of China. This could
be one the best battles in the second round if both players displayed their top form.
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