Vera Dushevina baffles Roberta Vinci in first round – Kremlin Cup 2011
Russian Vera Dushevina flabbergasted seventh seeded Roberta Vinci in the opening round of the Kremlin Cup 2011. The two players took up swords on the indoor hard courts of the Olympic Stadium in Moscow and after one hour and twenty six minutes the 25 year-old Russian, Dushevina thrashed the seventh seeded Italian in straight sets of 7-6(4), 6-4 on Monday the 17th of October 2011.
The first round of the match was kicked off by the seventh seeded Italian and she got off to an amazing start as she not only held her serve but also capitalized on an early to take a mini lead of 2-0 on the scoreboard. As she then held her serve and broke her adversary for the second time in the fourth game, she had further increased her lead to 4-0.
It was in the fifth game that Dushevina made a return and that too by breaking Vinci. As she again held her serve, she reduced the deficit to 2-4 by the end of the sixth game. In the following two games the players again won a game on their respective serves and the scoreboard had shifted to 5-3 by the end of the eighth game.
Dushevina brought the score to levelled terms at 5-5 by the end of the tenth game by capitalizing on a breakpoint and with a hold of serve. In the following two games the players broke each other back-to-back and the set was pushed into a tiebreaker.
Amidst the tiebreaker, the players held serve for the first two games and the score had tied at 1-1. With a chain of breaks and holds the players battled a blow for a blow but eventually Dushevina breezed past her adversary to clinch a 7-4. In doing so she not only clogged the opening set but was now one up in the match.
The second set of the match was initiated by Dushevina and she got off to a bad start as she lost control and double faulted during her second serve. Mean while, Vinci capitalized on the early break and then with a hold of serve took a mini lead of 2-0 on the scoreboard. During the following four games the rivals constantly held their respective serves to rotate the scoreboard at 4-2.
However in the seventh game Dushevina shifted into top gear and with a hold of serve and by benefiting from a break in the eighth game, she managed to tie the score at 4-4. At such a crucial stage, the match could’ve tilted either way but as Dushevina held serve in the ninth game, she was a game away from victory. In the tenth game the Russian capitalized on an extremely lucky break, as Vinci had come under pressure and double faulted, she ended up gifting away the set and the match to Dushevina.
Next up for the Russian is Nadia Petrova in the second round of the Kremlin Cup 2011.
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