13 December 2007
Kirilenko sweeps aside gutsy German Lisicki
Khaleej Times - By Edwin Ashie-Nikoi
DUBAI — Top seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia swept aside the resistance of Germany’s Sabine Lisicki with a 6-3, 6-3 victory for a spot in the quarter-finals of the ninth $75,000 ITF Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge at the Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa here yesterday.
The 20-year-old Russian came under intense pressure from Lisicki in both sets but the 30th ITF ranked player used her rich experience to claim a hard-fought win. Lisicki, two years younger than Kirilenko, was broken twice in the opening and seventh sets, but she put up a great fight, taking a 2-1 lead.
The German’s return was superb and her double-fisted backhand volleys sometimes gave the top seed problems. Kirilenko, with her strong forehand drives from the baseline, gradually fought her way back into the game and managed to level the scores 2-2 but Sabine held her serve in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead.
Sabine started to falter with several of her shots either going wide or into the net. She was also let down by lapses in her returns which Kirilenko capitalised on to break her serve in the seventh game and took the next two games to claim the first set 6-3.
The German showed a lot of fight-back in the second set but like the first set, she soon lost steam. Kirilenko gained more strength as the game wore on with her powerful groundstrokes to win the set by the same margin and the match.
Kirilenko will face her countrywoman Ekatrina Bychkova in the quarter-finals. Bychkova defeated Sfar Selima of Tunisia 6-1, 6-3. In a near one-sided first set, the Russian gave her opponent no chance with a mixture of crosscourt shots and strong volleys. Selima, one of the top Arab women players, listed 171 on the ITF rankings, made a series of unforced errors which cost her the match. She admitted afterwards that she did not play well.
In the doubles event, meanwhile, Yuliana Fedak (Ukraine)/Anna Lapushchenkova (Russia) stunned top seed Ekaterina Dzehalevich (Bulgaria)/Mervana Jugic-Salkic (Bosnia) 7-6 (5) 7-6 for a berth in the semifinals. The pair will meet fourth seed, Ekaterina Bychkova (Russia)/Evgeniya Rodina (Russia). The Russian duo defeated Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan)/Iroda Tulyaganova (Uzbekistan) 6-1, 6-2.
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