Women’s eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova has overcome a staggering 68 unforced errors to get past Alona Bondarenko 7-6(7) 6-4 in the third round of Australian Open 2009 on Saturday.
The Russian had 31 more unforced errors than winners, but still managed to dash Bondarenko’s dream of advancing to the fourth round of a major tournament for the first time.
Unleashing her blistering forehand early, Kuznetsova didn’t drop a point on her way to securing a first game break, and when she consolidated and broke again in the third game, it looked like it was going to be a painless match for the world No.8.
It was in the fourth game that the Russian started to unravel and miss routine shots.
Presented with three break-point opportunities, the Ukrainian doubles specialist grabbed her opportunity to get one back before easing into a rhythm that saw her take a 4-3 lead on serve.
Trying to lift her intensity, Kuznetsova became more vocal as she cursed herself for missed shots down the line and saw a number of returns rebound off her own side of the net.
Both women held their serve after a real struggle, and a first set tiebreaker ensued.
Facing the possibility of losing the first set when trailing 6-4, Kuznetsova employed serve and volley tactics to run Bondarenko ragged.
Capitalising on her only set point chance during the tiebreaker, the Russian pressured Bondarenko into one of her 18 unforced errors for the set as the net got in the way of a backhand slice.
Kuznetsova started the second set looking as dangerous as she had early in the first, and looked like gaining a break point opportunity on Bondarenko’s serve in the second game before a brilliant lob and follow-up first serve from Bondarenko helped the No.31 seed steady.
At the first change of ends, the trainer was called to examine and strap Bondarenko’s foot, and it was obvious that Kuznetsova was going to exploit any injury as best she could when she broke the very next game to lead 3-1.
Pushed across the baseline at every opportunity, Bondarenko couldn’t find a way to penetrate the forcefulness behind the majority of Kuznetsova’s shots.
Frustration started to creep back into the Russian’s game when she couldn’t capitalise on two match points and break points during the eighth game.
Forced to serve out the set, Kuznetsova first stared two break point opportunities down, but another unforced error on her third match point chance and a further two sloppy mistakes eventually handed the break to Bondarenko.
Unfortunately for the Ukrainian, she could not hold her next service game, gifting Kuznetsova the match with a double fault, just her second of the match.
Kuznetsova, who was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open in 2005, will next play China’s Jie Zheng, who earlier today downed another Bondarenko, Alona’s sister Kateryna, in straight sets.
Quick facts
The match lasted for two hours and eight minutes
Kuznetsova had 68 unforced errors to Bondarenko’s 26
Bondarenko had a much better first serve, with 80 per cent finding the mark compared to Kuznetsova’s 57 per cent
Kuznetsova hit 37 winners to Bondarenko’s 11
Kuznetsova only won eight more points than Bondarenko (98-90)
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