Virginie Razzano downs Misaki Doi to enter the second round – Citi Open 2011
World number 81, Virginie Razzano of France booked her place in the second round of Citi Open after a convincing straight-sets 6-2, 6-2 victory over a disappointed Misaki Doi.
The 28-year-old French woman looked determined, served exceptionally well and produced the right balance of attack to seal the match in just one hour and fourteen minutes of play
Although Doi’s solid and powerful ground game helped her winning 47 of 109 points in total, she was no better in this match with Razzano. It seemed like the Japanese woman had forgotten how to play and looked scared to go for her
two-handed backhands against Razzano, losing the match in straight sets.
She looked completely out of ideas and did not offer any resistance which could shake Razzano’s foundations and to stop her from winning the first set with a 6-2 score line. French woman’s expert command over her racquet, made
the Japanese to like an ill-equipped amateur, who could not broke back timely and lost the opener with eight points less than the French.
Looking fit as a fiddle, Razzano scored 67 percent of points on her service, 45 percent of points on return and 58 percent of points in total to race to a 6-2 lead. The French woman had full command over the match and although
she was not at her very best form-wise, Doi’s below par game level gave French fans and of course Razzano herself a lot of to celebrate about.
However, the disappointing defeat in the first set brought worry to the Japanese woman and she began to up the level of her game in the second set. Although she played a lot better in terms of first serve accuracy, she failed to
test Razzano’s nerves of steel and lost the second set with a pretty same score line and not moving into the second round of Citi Open.
If Yaroslava Shvedova had held up in her first round match, she would have faced the French woman in the semi-finals, but the Kazakh woman was defeated by sixth-seeded Elena Baltacha of Great Britain, who came back from the brink
of defeat to ensure her victory.
Both women have already met each other on three different occasions at the WTA tour with Razzano leading their head-to-head series, 2-1, so if the Brit desires to reach the third round, she will have to come up with something
extra-ordinary in an attempt to cause any upset.
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