This content was published 4 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.
Svetlana Kuznetsova prevailed in a marathon encounter against Anett Kontaveit to book her place in the third round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The Russian needed two hours and 47 minutes to find a way past the No.14 seed 4-6 7-5 6-3 and set up a meeting with No.4 seed Elina Svitolina.
The two players met at the same stage of the tournament two years ago, Kontaveit running out a straight sets winner on her way to the semi-finals, but it was a much closer encounter this time.
The duo was evenly matched throughout the match which ensured many long points, pulsating rallies and tight games ensued. The opening two sets followed a similar vein, three successive breaks of serve occurring at the back end of the set before first Kontaveit and then former Roland Garros champion Kuznetsova were able to secure the decisive blow.
Kontaveit struggled with her consistency in the final set and her level dropped. She was broken three times and was only able to recover one of those breaks as Kuznetsova seized the momentum and surged ahead to secure the upset.
“Well, I think that Anett has more matches under her belt, so she was a little bit more confident in the start. I just was thinking that I have to hang in there all the match and do my best, and I will have my opportunities to come back. And in the end, I had. I started to play better and better with the match going on,” said Kuznetsova.
Roland Garros runner-up Marketa Vondrousova, the No.12 seed, produced a clinical display to send qualifier Arantxa Rus packing. The Czech player saw off the world No.71 6-3 6-3 on Court 1 and will play either No.5 seed Kiki Bertens or Polona Hercog in the third round.
“It was a great match. It took almost two hours, 6-3, 6-3, but it was long and tough match for me, but I think I played a good one,” said Vondrousova.
Qualifier Daria Kasatkina looks like she’s finding her feet on clay, the 2018 Roland Garros quarter-finalist winning her third straight match at the Foro Italico to upend Katerina Siniakova, who upset No.15 seed Angelique Kerber in the first round, 6-2 6-3.
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