Venus Williams squeaks past Stosur to reach quarters of Internazionali BNL D’Italia: Tennis Special
Former world number one, Venus Williams, trounced the US Open titlist, Samantha Stosur, in straight sets at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia 2012 on Thursday. She summed up a 6-4, 6-3 victory against the fifth seed to breeze into the final eight at this WTA
(Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Five event taking place in Rome, Italy.
The American wildcard entrant took down Stosur in one hour and 32 minutes after recreating her old magic. Facing each other for the sixth time, Williams not only avenged her loss at the Family Circle Cup earlier this circuit but also extended her lead in
the head-to-head series by 5-1 against the world number five.
Williams was out from the professional tennis due to a long illness. However, after returning from seven months absence, the American registered a top five win against Petra Kvitova at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
"Every match is a lesson and a challenge for me. I think that all wins are great wins nowadays," Williams commented in a post-match interview. "I've had to get used to a lot of things and I'm still figuring out a lot. I'm making adjustments at the beginning
of every week. All I can do is be positive when I'm down."
Both contestants played their best tennis in the opening set at Foro Italico. However, the American veteran edged past Stosur and pulled out the opener with a 6-4 score line. She lost her opening serve but quickly recovered in the very next game. After losing
her serve again in the third game, Williams unleashed flurry of groundstrokes and went on a four-game tear. Despite squandering her chance of serving out the set in the ninth game, she broke the Aussie’s serve once more and bagged the opener.
Currently ranked 63rd in the WTA Premier Rankings, Williams lost her track again towards the follow-up set and suffered the first blow in the opening game to fall at 0-2. However, she stayed focused and after trailing at 1-3, the American reeled
off the following five games successively. She cashed in two out of three break opportunities to click the set with a 6-3 win.
All in all, the Lynwood native fired five ferocious aces and sought nine break chances. She produced a lower first serve share of 58 per cent as opposed to the Aussie’s 61 per cent but fascinatingly marked 20 out of 31 points on it. The ecstatic American
fended off four out of eight breakpoints she came across and sealed the deal with 64 points.
Next in line for Williams is the top Russian, Maria Sharapova, who tumbled over Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to set-up this epic encounter.
The gorgeous Russian is currently standing at the number two spot at the WTA rankings and is in an awesome run of form. However, Williams is also on track to reclaim her top spot and she needs to improve her defensive skills and serves in order to overpower
the Russian number one and inch closer towards her 44th WTA career title.
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