Vera Zvonareva bounces back against Pavlyuchenkova to advance at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
Second seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva bounced back from a set down to win against her countrywoman, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a three set thriller to advance into the quarter-finals of the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Wednesday.
3rd ranked Zvonareva is in her top form this season as she won the title at Doha by overpowering top seeded Caroline Wozniacki and made a semi-final berth at Australian Open and Miami.
The 26-year-old displayed tremendous skills in her opening match at Porsche Arena and dumped her fellow Russian in their first duel in two hours and ten minutes. After this victory, Zvonareva took the lead in their head-to-head
series by 1-0 against Pavlyuchenkova.
In the opening set, 19-year-old Pavlyuchenkova went on savage mode at the start of the match as she reeled off first three games in a row as she got the coveted break in the second game. Later she held her remaining serves plausibly
to eventually win the set with a 6-3 win.
Zvonareva roared back by keeping her serve in the first game by hammering an amazing service winner. Later she held her entire serves spectacularly and broke Pavlyuchenkova’s serve in the tenth game to clinch the equaliser with
a 6-4 win.
The seed kept her momentum rolling as she unleashed her flurry of groundstrokes to win the first three games in a row. Later she held her remaining serves through her awesome agility and broke her rival’s serve again in the eighth
game to seal the set with a convincing 6-2 score line.
Zvonareva defied the spirited teenager. Though she struggled in the first set, the seeded Russian completely outclassed Pavlyuchenkova in the remaining match and booked a spot for herself in the quarter-finals. Zvonareva will next
face either fifth seeded Australian Samantha Stosur or Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.
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