Vera Zvonareva beats Elena Vesnina in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open
World number three, Vera Zvonareva of Russia had to toil hard to overcome her fellow compatriot, Elena Vesnina in the second round clash of the Mutua Madrid Open at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain on Monday. The second seed
recovered from one set deficit to seal victory at 0-6, 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and forty four minutes to book a berth in the third round of the $4,500,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) World Tour 1000 tournament.
The two country fellows and good friends have been face to face with each other a number of times before, with Zvonareva winning most of the time. There last encounter at Dubai International Championships last year was also won
by the third ranked Russian. After her hard fought victory over Vesnina, Zvonareva now leads the all-time head-to-head series against her by 5-1.
A surprisingly devastating start for Zvonareva cost her opening set of the contest, as she failed to hold serve in a single game. She was completely blown away by the 44th ranked Vesnina in the first set and it appeared
as if the contest will end up in a major upset of the tournament. The world number three showed her true class in the later parts of the game and reeled off two sets to turn the tables on her fellow compatriot. Zvonareva lost just six games in the last two
sets, registering five serve breaks to confirm an emphatic victory.
A poor start from Zvonareva put her under pressure early, as she was broken in her very first serve game. The belligerent Vesnina gave her opponent no time to get her eye in the game and launched a series of attacking manoeuvres
to register three straight serve breaks in the opener. A total of 34 points were played in the first set, with Vesnina amazingly clinching 25 and Zvonareva lagging far behind with merely nine points.
The dejected crowd at Madrid expected Vesnina to dispense out the second seed out of the competition with utmost ease but it actually didn’t happen. Zvonareva made a tremendous come back in the second set, striking three serve
breaks to race past her opponent to 6-3. Once getting her momentum by winning the second set, the world number three continued to impress everyone by overwhelming Vesnina in the decisive set as well. She suffered a serve break from Vesnina but stung two break
points to ensure victory at 6-3.
Zvonareva has to wait until the clash between the 16th seed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic and Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa is settled. The two opponents will encounter each other on Tuesday the winner will take
on Zvonareva in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Tags: