Monday, August 30, 2010

Stosur gets past Vesnina in 1st round of U.S. Open

Elena Vesnina's first set against Sam Stosur in the opening round of the U.S. Open was very well played--and very well served. The second set went to a tiebreak, which Stosur won. By the third set, it was all about the 5th seed, as Vesnina's form slipped away, and Stosur took control, winning 3-6, 7-6, 6-1.

Venus Williams smacked ten aces against Roberta Vinci. There was a moment when Williams stretched for a volley and felt some obvious pain, but she recovered quickly. The 3rd seed looked in surprisingly good form (she hasn't played during the U.S. Open Series), and defeated Vinci 6-4, 6-1. Vinci is always fun to watch, and the first set was competitive. Williams' next opponent is Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino, who defeated Ksenia Pervak.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters went down 0-4 in her second set against Great Arn. She got through this bad patch, however, and won the match 6-0, 7-5. Melanie Oudin--who has obviously been working on her backhand--hit winners consistently against Olga Savchuk, whom she defeated 6-3, 6-0. Qualifier Savchuk made only two points in the second set. The match was played on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Oudin was anxious at the beginning, but straightened herself out.

Olga Govortsova fell onto her wrist during her match against Elena Dementieva, who won in straight sets. Govortsova did not appear to recover very well from the fall. Christina McHale hurt her leg in her match, and--though she was heavily bandaged by a trainer--she could no longer push off to serve successfully. Vania King defeated her with the odd score of 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.

Daniela Hantuchova, looking confident at the net, defeated Dinara Safina in straight sets. Qualifier Mandy Minella had a surprise win over Polona Hercog, and Zheng Jie won two tiebreak sets (7-0 and 7-1) against Timea Bacsinszky.

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