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Safina pulls off great escape in Cincinnati
Source: Agencies |
August 12, 2009, Wednesday
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WORLD number one Dinara Safina scrambled past Italian Roberta Vinci 2-6 7-5 6-4 to reach the third round of the Cincinnati Open yesterday.
World number 46 Vinci served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but her nerve failed her at the crucial time.
"It was a day when nothing was going (right)," Safina told reporters. "Everything was going all over the place.
"So I just accepted it. I thought that if I lose I just have to forget this match as soon as possible, because it makes no sense. It's not me, not my normal game."
With Safina spraying the ball everywhere, Vinci took advantage to lead by a set and 3-0.
Top seed Safina called for her coach and after a quick consultation, things began to change for her and she got back on level terms at 3-3.
Nevertheless, Vinci broke again to lead 5-4 but could not serve out and the Russian snatched the set before recovering from a break down in the decider to clinch victory.
"At 3-0 I called my coach and he said maybe change the racquet," Safina said, adding that the humid conditions made the balls fly more than normal. "Maybe also this helped me.
"Slowly I think she got tight. I don't know what happened to her because I was completely off. I guess she was not ready to beat me. She got afraid and things turned around."
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova came through a high-quality second-round encounter with Czech Lucie Safarova, surviving two rain breaks and an inspired opponent to win through 6-3 6-7 7-6 after two hours, 18 minutes.
Italian 14th seed Flavia Pennetta picked up where she left off after her title win in Los Angeles last week with a crushing 6-2 6-3 win over Japan's Ayumi Morita.
In other first-round action, Daniela Hantuchova recovered from a slow start to beat Italy's Sara Errani 3-6 6-3 6-1 in a match lasting more than two and a half hours.
Later yesterday third seed Venus Williams plays Olga Govortsova of Belarus for a place in the third round.
World number 46 Vinci served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but her nerve failed her at the crucial time.
"It was a day when nothing was going (right)," Safina told reporters. "Everything was going all over the place.
"So I just accepted it. I thought that if I lose I just have to forget this match as soon as possible, because it makes no sense. It's not me, not my normal game."
With Safina spraying the ball everywhere, Vinci took advantage to lead by a set and 3-0.
Top seed Safina called for her coach and after a quick consultation, things began to change for her and she got back on level terms at 3-3.
Nevertheless, Vinci broke again to lead 5-4 but could not serve out and the Russian snatched the set before recovering from a break down in the decider to clinch victory.
"At 3-0 I called my coach and he said maybe change the racquet," Safina said, adding that the humid conditions made the balls fly more than normal. "Maybe also this helped me.
"Slowly I think she got tight. I don't know what happened to her because I was completely off. I guess she was not ready to beat me. She got afraid and things turned around."
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova came through a high-quality second-round encounter with Czech Lucie Safarova, surviving two rain breaks and an inspired opponent to win through 6-3 6-7 7-6 after two hours, 18 minutes.
Italian 14th seed Flavia Pennetta picked up where she left off after her title win in Los Angeles last week with a crushing 6-2 6-3 win over Japan's Ayumi Morita.
In other first-round action, Daniela Hantuchova recovered from a slow start to beat Italy's Sara Errani 3-6 6-3 6-1 in a match lasting more than two and a half hours.
Later yesterday third seed Venus Williams plays Olga Govortsova of Belarus for a place in the third round.
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