Maria Kirilenko has followed up her upset first-round win over countrywoman Maria Sharapova with a solid 6-3 6-1 second-round victory over Austria’s Yvonne Meusburger on Wednesday.
Kirilenko went into the match as favourite and lived up to expectations, breaking Meusburger in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 advantage in front of a busy Show Court 2
Meusburger, not to be outdone, broke straight back to put the pressure back on the 58th-ranked Russian.
Kirilenko gave up several chances to break and even had a couple of fresh air shots as the wind and some unforced errors occasionally made her look average.
Despite the easy misses, Kirilenko composed herself enough to effect another break to take a 4-2 lead, but the 114th-ranked Austrian wasn’t done yet. The pair traded breaks for the next two games, neither player managing to consolidate.
Meusburger fell away in the latter part of the set as Kirilenko cut down her unforced error count and pressed her advantage.
On set point, Meusburger charged to the net only to let a ball go over her head that she thought was going long. It didn’t – the ball neatly dropped on the line to hand Kirilenko the first set 6-3.
In the second set, Meusburger held serve to begin confidently, but that would be the only high point in the set for the Austrian.
Kirilenko went on to win the next six games in succession to close out the match, progressing to the third round where she will face the winner of the match between Roberta Vinci and Vania King.
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