The Hindu : Sport : Kirilenko dismantles Pennetta

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Saturday, Sep 22, 2007
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Sport

Kirilenko dismantles Pennetta

Vijay Parthasarathy

Mariya Koryttseva breezes past Tatiana Poutchek

— Photo: AFP

BREEZY WIN: Mariya Koryttseva was hardly stretched in her quarterfinal clash against Tatiana Poutchek.

KOLKATA: Fourth seed Maria Kirilenko clinically dismantled Tour veteran Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1 to set up a potential clash with Daniela Hantuchova in the semifinals of the Sunfeast Open, at the Netaji Indoor stadium on Friday.

The first set was closer than the scoreline would suggest. Kirilenko was taken to deuce in the opening game and though she broke immediately for a 2-0 lead, Pennetta seized the chance to break back, by following up a backhand pass with a volley that her opponent could barely reach.

But Pennetta served indifferently in the eighth — perhaps the turning point of the match — and Kirilenko confidently served out the set in the next game. The Russian’s serving got her out of trouble at important stages; she won some easy points with aces and service winners. Pennetta made some headway on her opponent’s serve, stealing a couple of breakpoints early on, only to see those chances evaporate.

Will to resist

The Italian’s will to resist probably drained away after she was unable to hang on and serve out the first game of the second set, which went to seven deuces. From then onward Pennetta played with increasing desperation, went for expansive winners that fell several inches out, and looked unequal to the task.

Her baseline game came apart against a player who, on the day, had better success targeting the lines. When those shots come off, they are pleasing to the eye, but Pennetta was reckless at times, shanking forehands, overhitting returns. Two-fisted backhand winners spanked down the line were immediately negated by a deluge of unforced errors.

Powerful groundstrokes

Kirilenko invests in her powerful groundstrokes a great deal of topspin, and she was stroking the ball better, controlling the pace of the game towards the end; she even tried a couple of dropshots — the first time she’d tried it more than once in a match, she said afterwards.

“I made too many errors, this just wasn’t my day,” Pennetta said at the press conference with a shrug. Kirilenko, for her part, was happy with her performance: “The first set was quite tough, she was playing good and the momentum swung a couple of times. I did well to get the second break.

“In the second set, she started trying too much and made errors, obviously that made things easier for me.”

In another quarterfinal encounter Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva breezed past Belarussian Tatiana Poutchek 6-4, 6-2.

The results: Singles quarterfinals: Mariya Koryttseva bt Tatiana Poutchek 6-4, 6-2; Anne Keothavong bt Tzipora Obziler 6-1, 6-3; Maria Kirlenko bt Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-1.

Doubles: Alberta Brianti / Mariya Koryttseva bt Tatiana Poutchek / Anastasia Rodionova 2-6, 6-3, 10-6.

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