Victoria Azarenka vs Nadia Petrova – Fourth Round Preview: Wimbledon Championships 2011
World number five Victoria Azarenka will be facing Russian challenge Nadia Petrova on Monday in the fourth round of 2011 Wimbledon Championships in United Kingdom.
Azarenka booked her last 16 place with a hard fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over the resurgent Daniela Hantuchova from Slovakia. Earlier in the second round play, she eased past Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-3. Seeded fourth at the Women’s
tennis Association tournament, Azarenka will be looking to maintain her current level of play and reach the final stages at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. However to achieve similar results in the fourth round, she must bring more consistency into
her game.
The Belarusian star is getting better with every passing round justifying her position in the Wimbledon draw. Despite losing the second set to Hantuchova, Azarenka stayed firm and took her game to a higher level in the decider
to clinch victory. Enjoying the best season of her career, Azarenka has already bagged two WTA titles this year, in Miami and Marbella. Coming to her Grand Slam performances, she earned pre-quarters and quarterfinal finishes at Australian and French Open respectively.
Considering her recent form and consistency, she has emerged as a real contender for the championships,
Nadia Petrova, on the other hand, booked her pre-quarterfinals spot with a thumping 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko. Upsetting Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round 6-3, 6-3, Petrova has been striking
the ball really hard this week. Every time she found herself in trouble, she managed to hit her way out of it with her big forehand winners.
Winner of 9 WTA titles, Petrova is currently ranked 37th in the world. Over the years she has earned the reputation of being a giant killer. However inconsistency has halted her progress ever since she turned professional.
Petrova’s achieved her best Grand Slam results at 2003 and 2005 French Open finishing in the last four. At Wimbledon, her best performances were recorded in the 2005 and 2008 editions of the tournament, when she made it to the quarterfinals.
The two players have met each other on four previous occasions on the tour with the head-to-head record standing at a level 2-2. Petrova defeated the Belarusian in a three set thriller at 2008 Wimbledon Championships. The very
next year, Azarenka avenged her defeat by flooring Petrova in another nail biting encounter.
Azarenka is very good at playing from back of the court. She possesses a very fierce forehand shot which she can use to great effect. Petrova is known for her big serving and if she can be consistent with her serves, she has a
real chance of upsetting Azarenka. A very close encounter is expected between the contestants.
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