PETROVA RULED OUT

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Nadia Petrova, will not be able to take part in the upcoming Australian Open because of the demise of her mom.

Petrova’s mother passed away in a road accident a few days back. She was a sportsperson herself. During the 1976 Olympics which had taken place in Montreal, she had won a bronze medal for Russia in the 400 m relay race.

Petrova is not the only Russian player who has withdrawn her name from the Australian Open of late. Maria Kirilenko is the other one who will miss the tournament. However, the reason behind her withdrawal is different. She is actually injured and that’s why, she would not participate in the tournament.

In a press conference yesterday, the members of the organizing committee of the Australian Open confirmed the withdrawal of Petrova and Kirilenko from the tournament.

The organizers said, “Because of the sudden demise of her mother, Nadia Petrova has decided that she would keep herself out of the Australian Open. We want to convey our condolences to her and her family at this tough time.”

Currently, Petrova is not even in top 50 in the official WTA rankings. Her game has certainly gone down a lot in the recent past. She has struggled to win matches against good, quality players.

As far as Petrova’s performance in the Australian Open is concerned, she is yet to win that tournament.

A couple of years back in 2011, she had had her best outing in the Australian Open as she had managed to make it to the semi final round then. But, in the last two seasons, she got knocked out pretty early from the tournament (from the second round in 2012 and from the opening round in 2013).

PETROVA LOSES OUT

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Nadia Petrova, has been defeated by Li Na of China in the second round of the China Open at Beijing. Li won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-2. It was a completely one sided match and Li won it in just 79 minutes.

Petrova had won the Toray Pan Pacific Open before coming into this tournament and she was high on confidence. She was expected to reach the semi finals easily. But, Petrova didn’t show the form that she had shown in the Toray Pan Pacific Open. She looked horribly out of nick and managed to win only 3 games in the entire match.

In the post match interview, Li Na said, “I had come into the match expecting a tough fight from Petrova, but, luckily, she wasn’t at her best today and made many unforced errors.”

“It’s nice to get a convincing win against a quality player like Petrova. But, I need to carry on the momentum. I want to win the title on my home soil and hopefully, I would succeed.”

On the other hand, Petrova looked disgusted after being defeated. The Russian player said, “It was a terrible match for me. I am pretty disappointed with the way I served in the whole match. Li was fantastic in today’s match and she hardly gave me any opportunity.”

In the opening set, both the players held their service in the first two games and the scorecard was saying 1-1 at the end of the 2^nd game. But, after that, Li was all over Petrova.  She won the next five games on the trot and sealed the first set by 6-1.

Li started the second set in a brilliant fashion. She broke Petrova’s service in the first and the third game and took a lead of 4-0. However, Petrova got a breakthrough in the 6^th game and reduced the lead to 4-2, but, that was it for her in the match. Li broke Petrova’s service in the 7^th game and then, wrapped up the match by holding her service in the next game.

In the third round, Li Na will play against her countrywoman Shuai Peng.

PETROVA MAKES SECOND ROUND

Anna Kournikova’s compatriot, Nadia Petrova, has reached the second round of the US Open by defeating Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia in the first round. Petrova won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 7-6(3). Gajdosova played some good shots in the second set, but, Petrova’s experience and versatility proved to be too much for her. Petrova served very well in the match. She also played some majestic forehand shots.

Petrova came into the match with all guns blazing. She made a fantastic start to the first set. She broke Gajdosova’s service in the second game of the first set and then, served out the third game to get ahead in the set by 3-0.The Aussie needed a breakthrough badly, but, Petrova didn’t let her do that. Petrova maintained her lead till the end of the set and sealed the opening set by 6-3. In the second set, Gajdosova tightened her game and held her entire serves. However, Petrova could have broken her opponent’s service in the 11^th game, but, she wasn’t able to take advantage of the two breakpoints that she got. The set went into the tie breaker. Petrova flattened the Aussie with some cracking shots in the tie breaker and won the match.

In the post match interview, Petrova said that she shouldn’t have let the second set go into the tie breaker. She should have capitalized on the breakpoint that she had got towards the end of the second set. As per Petrova, she would have to play against some top quality players in the further matches and if she continues making such mistakes in those matches, it might prove costly for her. The Russian player said that she would have to raise the standard of her game for the further matches. In the second round, Petrova will play against Simona Halep of Romania.

PETROVA SUFFER DEFEAT

Anna Kournikova’s countrywoman, Nadia Petrova, has been defeated in the opening round of the Rogers Cup by Kiki Bertens of Netherlands. The match was very interesting and both the players tried hard, but, the Dutch youngster maintained her composure throughout the game and defeated Petrova after a long struggle of 2 hours and 20 minutes. Bertens, who has been ranked 80th in the official rankings of WTA, won the match by 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

In the first two games of the first set, both the players broke each other’s service and the scores were leveled at 1-1. Thereafter, Petrova got two consecutive breakthroughs in the third game and the fifth game and won the next three games in a row to make the score 4-1. Read more »