Vesnina Rallies in WTA Tashkent Debut
Posted on October 4, 2006TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Elena Vesnina experienced a similar fate as top seed Maria Elena Camerin in her first round match at the Tashkent Open 2006 on Tuesday.
The No.2-seeded Russian faced a Chinese qualifier, left-handed Sun Shengnan, and saw her opponent serve for the match before rallying to a 06 75 62 win. The match ended under the lights on a day marred by several rain delays. On Monday, Camerin also survived a three set victory against China's Ren Jing.
"I watched Camerin's match yesterday and today I'm in the same situation," said Vesnina, who will play Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round.
Vesnina was one of three Russian seeds in action Tuesday. No.7 Galina Voskoboeva was upset by qualifier, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, while No.8 Anastassia Rodionova needed three sets to get past qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Vesnina made lots of unforced errors in the first set but became alive in the second, mainly because of her serve. Sun served for the match, starting with a double fault. She made three more unforced errors to give the game away.
"It was like a Christmas gift for me," Vesnina said.
Vesnina won seven straight games after that but became tired and struggled again. She needed five match points to close out the win when Sun double faulted. Sun hit some strong forehands but admitted that once Vesnina cut down her errors it was going to be tough.
Cibulkova, who survived four match points in her final qualifying round match on Sunday, showed great fighting qualities again in her 57 64 76(2) win. Voskoboeva had her chances, especially after she overcame a 5-2 deficit to win the first set. She was up 4-2 in the second before losing four straight games and served for the match in the third. In the deciding tie-break, Cibulkova raced away after a rain break (at 2-2) and won the match when Voskoboeva netted two returns.
"I'm happy that I won," said Cibulkova, who faces Victoria Azarenka in the second round. "But my game was not good. I was nervous. In fact, we were two nervous players on court. I tried not to think that she was serving for the match. I told myself to play my shots, like in practice."
No.8 seed Rodionova was blown away by qualifier Olga Govortsova in the first set but came back strongly to win 16 64 61. Other Tuesday winners were Bondarenko, Olivia Sanchez, Azarenka, Tatiana Poutchek and Hana Sromova.
-- WTA
The No.2-seeded Russian faced a Chinese qualifier, left-handed Sun Shengnan, and saw her opponent serve for the match before rallying to a 06 75 62 win. The match ended under the lights on a day marred by several rain delays. On Monday, Camerin also survived a three set victory against China's Ren Jing.
"I watched Camerin's match yesterday and today I'm in the same situation," said Vesnina, who will play Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round.
Vesnina was one of three Russian seeds in action Tuesday. No.7 Galina Voskoboeva was upset by qualifier, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, while No.8 Anastassia Rodionova needed three sets to get past qualifier Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Vesnina made lots of unforced errors in the first set but became alive in the second, mainly because of her serve. Sun served for the match, starting with a double fault. She made three more unforced errors to give the game away.
"It was like a Christmas gift for me," Vesnina said.
Vesnina won seven straight games after that but became tired and struggled again. She needed five match points to close out the win when Sun double faulted. Sun hit some strong forehands but admitted that once Vesnina cut down her errors it was going to be tough.
Cibulkova, who survived four match points in her final qualifying round match on Sunday, showed great fighting qualities again in her 57 64 76(2) win. Voskoboeva had her chances, especially after she overcame a 5-2 deficit to win the first set. She was up 4-2 in the second before losing four straight games and served for the match in the third. In the deciding tie-break, Cibulkova raced away after a rain break (at 2-2) and won the match when Voskoboeva netted two returns.
"I'm happy that I won," said Cibulkova, who faces Victoria Azarenka in the second round. "But my game was not good. I was nervous. In fact, we were two nervous players on court. I tried not to think that she was serving for the match. I told myself to play my shots, like in practice."
No.8 seed Rodionova was blown away by qualifier Olga Govortsova in the first set but came back strongly to win 16 64 61. Other Tuesday winners were Bondarenko, Olivia Sanchez, Azarenka, Tatiana Poutchek and Hana Sromova.
-- WTA