Russian talent Margarita Gasparyan was one of the first winners of  day one, ousting 17th-seeded Sara Errani from the 1st round. In a generally messy match but with plenty of good shots and rallies, the Russian's power prevailed over the Italian's consistency in the quick courts of Melbourne.

Errani races to the first set

With Gasparyan entering the match rusty and Errani ready to run for every ball, the Italian would win the first first games to create a 5-0 lead. The Italian was keeping every ball into play, creating rallies and forcing the errors out of her opponent. Also, Errani was really good on her return not letting the Russian get much power from her serve. 

On the other side, Gasparyan was trying but her strokes were not enough to blow her counterpart off the court, with Errani actually tearing her apart with her consistency. In the sixth game the Russian rising star would put get on board for first time after a good service game. However, that was not enough for her as Errani closed the set on her serve. The Italian's numbers were even, six winners to six unforced errors, while Gasparyan had 15 more unforced errors than winners. It was evident that the Russian needed to accelerate a little bit and find a rhythm on the Italian's weak serve,  which wisely placed on her backhand was troubling her enough.

Gasparyan steps up to come through a tight second set

The Russian entered the set seeming more decisive and a lot more determined for the win. Playing with more power, attacking her counterpart's serve ,and getting more and more to the net, she was able to keep up with the score even though she was still troubled by Errani's consistency.

The match quickly fell onto Gasparyan's racket with her dictating almost all the rallies and Errani just running for every ball. The first six games were even holds, but with Errani having to save some break points. Another problem of the Russian was also her break point conversion and in general her inability to play well in big points. Errani would be the one to break first after a long game with some really sharp returns and shots going down the line, making it for the youngster tough to attack more.

The break set an alarm for Gasparyan who came out firing on Errani's serve, finally finding a good rhythm behind her return to earn her first break after 11 tries, in a long game to make it 4-4. A pair of holds will follow up with the Russian starting to use variety as well with some great drop shots creating some beautiful rallies. The match had gotten really entertaining with Gasparyan winning points in the rallies as well. Errani did not do something to really change the pace with her only tries ending in errors. With this, a fired up Gasparyan, who was constantly improving in every part of her game, won the next two games and eventually the set.

The youngster was a lot better in this set playing with more power and not letting her counterpart return many shots. As the set was continued, she used more variety and she was more patient in the big rallies. On the contrary, Errani was stable, playing as she was in the first part of the match. 

Fired-up Gasparyan wins the decider to seal her best career win

Errani started the set with breaking this time, with Gasparyan still hitting some errors but staying more patient in the rallies than in the start. From then, Errani didn't take any other game as the Russian raced through the next six playing some amazing tennis and finding some incredible shots.

The former world number five seemed more tired and even though she was trying play deeper and more aggressive, she was not able to stop her opponent's dominance. She even took a 11-minute long medical timeout after the fifth game when the Russian was leading 4-1 but nothing changed. Gasparyan played some stunning tennis in this final set,with some great winners, especially her backhand down the line and returns as she was absolutely fired-up and determined to get her best career win,which she got in the end.

The stats

The stats were pretty much even with Errani hitting 10 winners to 31 unforced errors which mounted up especially in the 3rd set while the Russian hit 35 winners, most of them coming in the last 2 sets, and 55 unforced errors.

Gasparyan converted five of 15 break points, evidently struggling in the big points while Errani was a little better with four of nine. The stat that was probably the most representative of the Russian's win was her net points from which she won 18 out of her 22 tries. Gasparyan will now face Kurumi Nara in the second round who beat Oceane Dodin in straight sets.

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About the author
Pan Mich
Just an enthusiastic WTA fan from Greece!