KIRILENKO THROUGH

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Maria Kirilenko, has defeated Sabine Lisicki of USA in the final of the PTT Pattaya Open which was played at Thailand. Kirilenko won the match by 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(1).

In the last year’s tournament in Thailand, Kirilenko was defeated in the final by Daniela Hantuchova, but, the Russian player didn’t let that happen again. She lost the opening set, but, thereafter, she played excellent tennis.

Kirilenko had a great start in the opening set. She broke Lisicki’s serve in the third game of the first set and then, served out the fourth game to take a lead of 3-1.

Kirilenko failed in continuing her lead till the end of the set. Her serve was broken in the sixth game and the scores got equalized at 3-3. In the next five games, neither of the two players dropped her serve and at the end of the 11^th game, Lisicki was ahead by 6-5.

Kirilenko needed to serve out the 12^th game to extend the set into the tie breaker, but, she couldn’t do that. She dropped her serve for the second time in the set and lost the first set.

In the second set, Sabine Lisicki held her serve in the first game, but, thereafter, she was taken apart by Kirilenko. The Russian player won six games in a row with three consecutive serve breaks and sealed the second set by 6-1.

Kirilenko started the final set in an aggressive mood. She won the first three games consecutively with a breakthrough in the second game. However, Lisicki made up for that blow by breaking Kirilenko’s serve in the ninth game. Both the players held their serve in the remaining three games which took the set into the tie breaker.

In the tie breaker, Kirilenko was at her best. She was so dominating that her opponent managed to win just one point in the tie breaker. With a couple of great backhand shots, she finished off the match and won the title.