Yaroslava Shvedova overpowers Sofia Arvidsson in the second round brawl – French Open 2012
Rated at number 142 in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings, Kazakh tennis diva Yaroslava Shvedova registered another upset victory in the second round of the French Open on Thursday. The 24-year-old qualifier
hunted down the world number 54, Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, to secure a berth in the third round of the Roland Garros.
The local crowd in Paris, France, was in for yet another surprise on Thursday as one more superior ranked contender bowed out in an upset outcome. Arvidsson outmuscled the 17th seed Italian, Roberta Vinci, in the opening
round brawl but couldn’t repeat her magic against the brilliance of Shvedova. She was absolutely manhandled by the Kazakh contender throughout the matchup and could merely win one game in the whole contest to finish on the losing side in the end.
The 24-year-old Kazakh exhibited flawless clay-court tennis against the Swede veteran, outsmarting her in every segment of the game. She faced no real difficulties in overwhelming the limited resistance from Arvidsson and cruised
through the two sets with the utmost ease. Shvedova had a below par first serve precision of 56 per cent in the match but dropped just three points on it, clinching 22 out of 25 points en route to victory.
"The first two games were very close with break points both ways, and I was nervous," said Shvedova after her emphatic victory. "But I just stuck to my game plan and played all the points solidly and didn't make any mistakes. It
feels great to play so well again here in Paris."
The booming Kazakh contender crafted a total of 10 break opportunities in the contest but only half conversions proved sufficient for her to dump Arvidsson from the star-studded event. The Swede also had four break points in the
encounter but she carelessly frittered away all of those precious chances to remain at a disadvantage all the way to defeat.
Shvedova has been a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros and her impactful beginning this season also hints a similar sort of performance later in the tournament. The Kazakh qualifier will square off against the unseeded Spaniard,
Carla Suarez Navarro, in the third round clash of the French Open this weekend.
Former world number one, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, was among the other big names to crash out of the Grand Slam draw on Thursday. She was beaten by the unseeded American, Varvara Lepchenko, in the second round.
Tags: