Vera Zvonareva bows out to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round – Apia International Sydney 2012
In an all-Russian affair in the opening round of the Apia Sydney International event, 19th ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova completely blew away the world number seven, Vera Zvonareva, on Monday. The former world number two,
Kuznetsova, took just 71 minutes to outclass her fellow compatriot in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, to book a berth in the second round of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) event in an assertive fashion.
Being played on the hard courts of the NSW Tennis Centre in Sydney, Australia, the contest witnessed one of the finest displays of power hitting from the 26-year-old Kuznetsova, ravaging the sixth seed opponent to register her
fourth victory of the 2012 WTA season. Zvonareva appeared a total mismatch to the fury of the unseeded Russian and utterly failed to pose any serious challenge to her before submitting in the second set. She merely clinched three of the total 15 games being
played in the competition and suffered a humiliating defeat in her season opening matchup in Sydney.
The sixth seeded Russian was led down by her error-ridden game play. She coughed a number of unforced errors, which include nine costly double faults as well, throughout the contest to let easy points to her opponent. She registered
merely one break point in the entire contest, whereas Kuznetsova nailed five out of 13 break opportunities en route to victory. A total of 96 points were played in the whole matchup and Kuznetsova secured 61 out of them, with her opponent trailing far behind
at 35 points.
Kuznetsova will face off against the Czech competitor, Lucie Safarova, in the second round of the Apia International Sydney to battle for a place in the quarter-final draw of the tournament. Safarova created a huge upset in the
opening round matchup, when she outplayed the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-2, to force her way into the round of 16. Third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, fourth seed Li Na of china and seventh seeded Pole
contestant, Agnieszka Radwanska, also cleared their opening round matches convincingly to march in the second round of the tournament along with Kuznetsova.
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