Venus Williams reigns over Vesna Dolonts in 1st round – US Open 2011
Monday night saw the likes of Venus Williams come to odds with Vesna Dolonts in the opening round match of the US Open 2011. The players took up the gauntlet on the Arthur Ashe Stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis
Center. Venus who had contested her last match at Wimbledon didn’t show any signs of rust and instead clogged the match in a straight set victory of 6-4, 6-3.
Although, Venus had no practice this hard court season she opened the set by smashing an ace with a speed of 126 mph. The first break point converted was by Dolonts, who took the lead 2-1 but in the next game Venus broke back and
equalized the score to 2-2. Although, the two battled in lengthy, exasperating rallies, they were still able to hold their serve in the following 5 games. At this point the score board read as 5-4. The last service game belonged to Dolonts but in the spur
of the moment, Venus pounced at the opportunity and won the game point to see a speedy victory in just 40 minutes of play.
Across the board, even though, Venus had struck seventeen unforced errors and had committed three double faults, her forehand swing produced more than as many winners as her backhand, with a total of fourteen winners in just the
first set.
The second set was a quicker victory than the first and former world number 1 Venus opened the second set by smashing four aces successively in the opening game and bagged the game without any opposition. The players kept winning
on their respective serves till the first five games but then Williams broke first and took the lead 4-2. Dolonts failed to break back and to equalize the score thus eventually Venus won the match point on her serve and served the set at 6-3.
Following her victory, Venus Williams said, “I didn't really know what to expect, I just knew I was going to try very hard, I wasn't trying to serve too hard today, I was just trying to make sure they went in’.
Unfortunately for Dolonts, it seemed she had thrown in the towel and didn’t want to try against her stronger opponent, even though she had kept Venus on her toes by hitting in the corners, she eventually saw an early round exit.
Venus Williams secured a berth in the second round, where she will be facing either German Sabine Lisicki or Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.
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