Venus Williams holds on Maria Kirilenko in round one - Western and Southern Open 2012
Former world number one, Venus Williams, had an up and down time against the 14th ranked Russian starlet, Maria Kirilenko, in the opening round clash of the Western and Southern Open on Tuesday. However, she survived
the match 603, 6(5)-7, 6-2 in a battle that featured a gruelling game play for two hours and 23 minutes.
Williams started the encounter with a serve hold and so did her rival. Both players continued to bag serve games and the scoreboard cruised away to 4-3 in the opening set with Kirilenko serving the following game to keep up with
her opponent.
However, it was the moment that proved to be the downturn for the Russian babe. She failed to hold serve and gifted a lead of 5-3 at the crucial stages of the set. She had to break serve back to keep the set alive but she could
only win a single point in the following game.
The second set witnessed a gruelling battle with six breakpoints shared three apiece by both contenders. Kirilenko saved two match points and furthermore managed to win a tie-breaker as well to enforce the third set into play.
The momentum was broken by the American who broke serve in the fourth game and smashed four straight winners to take a lead of 4-1. She won the match courtesy another breakpoint in the eighth game of the set.
Williams commented at the end of the match, "I was putting too much emphasis on my serve when I was trying to serve it out in the second set - when I had to hit some ground strokes, I wasn't patient enough. I should have just stuck
in there and worked the point, but I got a little impatient. It doesn't work, especially against a player like her. I changed my ways in the third."
Commenting about the chronic problem of Sjögren's Syndrome that has troubled the American for a long time, she said, “My main goal is to be 100%, but it's not like it goes away. It's still in my body trying to fight against me,
but I'm fighting against it as well."
Williams will lock horns with Chanelle Scheepers in round two.
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