Vesna Manasieva battles past Eva Birnerova in opening round of BNP Paribas Open 2011 qualifiers
Russian Vesna Manasieva struggled past her Czech opponent Eva Birnerova in the first round qualifiers of the BNP Paribas Open 2011 in Indiana Wells on Monday.
The match lasted for 2 hours and 42 minutes before Manasieva finally came out as the winner. She won 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Although Manasieva won the contest, her performance in the match raises several questions on her game play. She delivered merely 57 per cent of her first serve on target while Birnerova had an impressive figure of 77 for the match. The Russian spilled out
15 double faults and still managed to win the contest with such poor serve statistics. She needs to rectify this weakness immediately if she wants to progress at the tournament.
Manasieva got an early break in the opener to lead 3-2. The Czech replied with a break point to level the scores at 4-4. Birnerova served magnificently in the opening set, reaching 81 per cent accuracy and saved six break points. She executed her strokes
very well but lacked the required aggression for the game. Manasieva stung her second serve break in the ninth game and was left to serve for the set at 5-4. A clobbering forehand sealed the first set for the Russian at 6-4.
Birnerova took the Russian by surprise in the next set. She was more agile and read her opponent’s moves very well. Both contestants exchanged two serve breaks apiece and took the scores to 4-4 in the second set. Manasieva’s seven double faults allowed the
Czech to claim the set 6-4, forcing the match into a decider.
As expected, the decider proved to be a tough one as the two competitors struggled hard to overcome each other. Manasieva further committed seven double faults and served with just 49 per cent accuracy. Her opponent served with 80 per cent accuracy and crafted
three serve breaks. The Russian broke her opponent’s serve four times in the set and a last one at 6-5 concluded the match for her.
Manasieva will take on the third seeded Frenchwoman, Alize Cornet in the next round. Cornet won her opening round contest against Han Xinyun of China in an assertive straight sets victory 6-3, 6-1.
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