Roberta Vinci secured her first win at the WTA Elite trophy with a 6-4, 6-4, win over former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Vinci, this year’s US Open runner-up, is the fourth seed in the final tournament of the 2015 WTA calendar compared to Kuznetsova who is 11th. The match was a straightforward encounter with the Italian remaining unbroken throughout the match.
The playing style of Vinci was problematic for the Russian throughout the match as Kuznetsova was unable to work out a solution to Vinci’s slice shots and impressive net play. In the first set Vinci made her first attack in the fifth game by breaking her opponent’s serve to love. The move was decisive for the outcome of the opening set as the Italian dropped just four points in her three remaining service games to comfortably take the set after forty-one minutes.
The 32-year-old struck another blow to Kuznetsova at the start of the second set when she broke to love to move to a set and a break up. The Italian seemed certain to break for the third time to lead 5-2, when she had three break points against the Russian. She was, however unable to convert as Kuznetsova clawed her way back to deuce before eventually taking the game to keep within contention. Despite the Russian’s mini comeback, it wasn’t enough to tame Vinci. Serving for the match, Vinci hit a smash at the net to earn her first match point. She capitalized on the match point by hitting a forehand cross-court winner to secure the victory and move to the top of her group.
The biggest issue for Vinci during the 92-minute match was her first serve. The world No.15 was only able to successfully get 51% of them in, however when she did she won 89% of them. In addition Vinci also produced 3 aces and won 57% of the points in the match (69/121).
The next match for Vinci in the round robin stage will be against Caroline Wozniacki in what will be their second encounter this year. During the New Haven Open in August, Wozniacki defeated Vinci in three close sets, winning the final set tiebreaker 9-7. Overall Vinci trails the head-to-head against the former world No.1 2-3.
