Vera Dushevina ousts top seed Francesca Schiavone in 1st round – Hansol Korea Open 2011
The biggest upset of the day was when unseeded Vera Dushevina got rid of number one seeded and wildcard entrant Francesca Schiavone in the opening draw of the Hansol Korea Open 2011. Both the players battled it out on the hard
courts of Olympic Tennis Courts in Seoul, South Korea on the 20th of September 2011. After one hour and twenty five minutes of play, Russian Dushevina won in straight sets with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory.
The last time the two had met was in the third round Beijing Open 2010 and Schiavone had finally avenged her loss by winning from a set down for the first time though still trailing in the head-to-head. Fate had given yet another
chance to Schiavone to equalize the score, but alas!
Serving first with confidence was Dushevina as she had previously won in two of their meetings out of the three played. The players kept winning on their serves in alternate games and tied the score initially at 2-2 in the first
four games.
They then tied it at 3-3 in the following two games and again after an additional two games at 4-4. By the tenth game the score was balanced at 5-5 and as the two again held their own serves the set was pushed into a tie breaker.
As the two progressed into the tiebreaker, the Russian gained momentum and went on to breaking her opponent’s service twice to secure an early 3-0 lead. The Italian was unable to bounce back or break; Schiavone could do nothing
except hold her own serve which too went in vain. Positioned at 6-4, Dushevina served out the set to eventually clinch the tiebreaker at 7-4 and had gotten an upper hand.
Opening the second set was again Dushevina and this time both the players were able to hold their own in the initial two games. During the following two games, the players rallied long and eventually went on to breaking each other
back-to-back and balanced the score at 2-2. As Dushevina held her serve in the fifth game, she then broke her adversary in the sixth and took a mini lead of 4-2.
By the second last game Dushevina was looking to break her opponent and as Schiavone was serving. The Italian targeted the far corners of the court with her backhand but then missed it by inches and gifted the match to Dushevina.
Dushevina secured a place in the second round of the event where she will be facing Belarusian Alexandra Dulgheru.
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