Roberta Vinci battles it out against Yanina Wickmayer in the 1st round – Rogers Cup 2011
Italian Roberta Vinci battled it out against Yanina Wickmayer her Belgian opponent, in their first round match at the 2011 Rogers Cup. Playing on the hard courts of Rexall Centre in York University, Toronto, Canada, the Italian
eventually came out victorious with a 6-4, 6-2 win.
Battling it out for the fourth time, Vinci finally levelled her head to head score after 78 minutes of play. However, the last time they contested against each other was at the UNICEF Open, on the grass court competition played
at the Autotron Rosmalen during June in ’S-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Vinci was finally able to avenge her loss against Wickmayer with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
The Belgian had 19% more first serve shots on target against the Italian, who only managed to hit a 50% of her first serve shots on target, along with, striking an extra double fault and an ace.
Initially, during the set it seemed that Wickmayer would win the set because she was leading 3-1, however, after rallying a few shots and winning 2 break points, Vinci made a comeback. As she played her confidence grew and she
was able to hit more resounding shots which enabled her to win 60% of her service points in the set as compared to her opponent who attained a 54%.
Although, both the players had a similar return, Vinci gained an edge because of her strong reflex action which facilitated her in bagging 6% more points in her total return than her 21 year old adversary (Wickmayer). Hence, the
world number 22, Vinci barely made the cut by triumphing over her rival with a mere 5 more points in the total set score.
Losing the first set with only 4 game points, Wickmayer should’ve have pulled her socks up and fought it out with her usual flair but to the crowds dismay, she lost the second set by bagging two game points fewer than the previous
set and lost the set 6-2.
With her new found confidence, Vinci had perfected her accuracy and thus, hit no double faults and instead smashed two aces, while, her opponent only faltered at her direction and struck one double fault.
Again, Wickmayer was able to hit most of her targets on shot, along with a decent first serve win but in the second serve her serving technique failed her and she lost most of her points. On the other hand, the Belgian kept pounding
at her opponent with well placed shots which helped her in achieving an above average 57% win in her total service points.
Moreover, the 28-year-old Italian had broken her opponent thrice and with a beautiful return, which won her 59% of her total return points, she won the set with 58% of total set points.
Roberta Vinci managed to secure a berth in the second round, where she will be facing number one seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.
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