Spaniards Survive First Round Test
Published August 14, 2012 11:50
CINCINNATI, OH, USA - Both seeded teams in first round action on Tuesday at the Western & Southern Open were victorious, though sixth-seeded Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez withstood a challenge.
Down 4-3 in the first set against Olga Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva, Llagostera Vives and Martínez Sánchez won three straight games to take the set and after a second set lapse, managed a 64 36 103 triumph - one of four doubles matches on the day that was extended to a match tie-break. Runners-up here in 2009, the Spaniards are now 3-0 against Govortsova and Kudryavtseva. Next up for them are Vera Dushevina and Paola Suárez.
Advancing in more routine fashion were No.8 seeds Katarina Srebotnik and Zheng Jie. Playing together for the first time, the Slovenian-Chinese duo were 63 63 winners over Casey Dellacqua and Andreja Klepac.
Srebotnik's former doubles partner, Kveta Peschke, was involved in the most compelling match of the day. Julia Goerges and Peschke survived four match points in a 20-minute match tie-break, eventually gutting out a 64 36 1614 defeat of Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching.
"What a doubles match today," Goerges tweeted. "Great quality from both sides, but we got the better end of it, 16-14 in the match tie-break."
The competition gets tougher in the second round for Goerges and Peschke in the form of fifth-seeded Czechs Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, who were silver medalists at the Olympics in their last event.
Other victors included Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova and Ekaterina Makarova and Anna Tatishvili. Grandin and Uhlirova beat Irina-Camelia Begu and Anabel Medina Garrigues, 76(5) 61, to set up a rematch of last year's final against No.3 seeds and defending champions Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Makarova and Tatishvili got past 2007 Cincinnati champs Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sania Mirza, 26 61 108.
Another pair of former Cincinnati titlists, 2008 winners Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova, had to withdraw because of dizziness suffered by Petrova in her first round singles loss.
