Easy Victory For Vinci In Round 1

Fresh off a rise to a career-high ranking of No.25, Roberta Vinci cruised into the second round of the POLI-FARBE Budapest Grand Prix.

Published July 05, 2011 08:15

Easy Victory For Vinci In Round 1
Roberta Vinci

BUDAPEST, Hungary - The Top 2 seeds, frequent doubles partners Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani, only lost five games combined in first round singles matches at the POLI-FARBE Budapest Grand Prix on Tuesday.

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Vinci, up to a career-high No.25 in the world after after a grass court season that included a title at 's-Hertogenbosch and a third round showing at Wimbledon, was especially dominant, beating qualifier Lenka Jurikova, 61 60.

"The score may suggest an easy match but it was tough," said the top-seeded Vinci, who faced 11 break points but saved 10 of them. "However, my opponent made many mistakes, especially in the important moments, and I was focused, served well and played a lot of spin shots that she apparently didn't like."

As for Errani, she defeated Madalina Gojnea, 63 61. "Matches in the first round are always tough," the Italian said. "Especially coming from grass to clay, where the ball bounces higher. The match started badly for me, as I made several mistakes, but then my coach told me to take it easy, focus and just play my game. That put me back on track."

The other two seeds in action, No.4 seed Lucie Hradecka and No.6 seed Mathilde Johansson, were both upended. However, their defeats weren't shocking when considering their opponents' histories against them. Eva Birnerova's 36 64 62 victory was her second triumph in four tries against Hradecka and Zuzana Kucova's 76(2) 75 win over Johansson made her 3-1 versus the Frenchwoman.

"It was a very close match," said Kucova, who did not seal the match until her fifth match point. "In the first set, I was fighting for every point and took advantage of my chances in the tie-break."

Next up for Kucova is former Top 20 player Alona Bondarenko, currently ranked one spot above the Slovak at No.130.

"I expect a tough match," Kucova said. "She is a good player. I will have to play really good tennis to beat her."

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