Session 8 Preview - Kazakhstan Aim to Take it Up to Russians
6/01/2010
By Nikki Brown
RUSSIA’S defeat of Germany has put them in good stead ahead of tonight’s match against Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan was part of the former Soviet Union before declaring its independence in 1991, and now they will look to shock their bigger sibling in tonight’s Session to remain a chance of still making the Hyundai Hopman Cup’s Final.
Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova will take on world No. 5 Elena Dementieva, which the Russian will go in as the favourite to win. However with her straight sets loss against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki the match is still anyone’s for the taking.
Shvedova will be looking to make it two wins in a row after downing Laura Robson when she faces Dementieva and the night match will be an advantage for the Kazak who is still recovering from illness and getting accustomed to the humidity inside the Dome.
While Russia recovered and won the Tie 2-1, surprisingly Dementieva was not that shocked at her loss. She praised Lisicki for her aggressive game play and good choice of shots and said it took her too long to get into the game.
“It always takes some time in the beginning of the season to get used to and we haven’t played matches for a long, long time,” Dementieva said.
“So for sure it’s going to take some time. So just want to take this tournament as a good preparation for the Australian (Open).”
The Russian’s famous inside out forehand was constantly going wide and her hard hitting was not helping either with the ball going long or into the net.
However Dementieva’s partner Igor Andreev was delighted with his singles win and then recording a win in the doubles. Andreev was able to capitalise on the big important points and hopes to improve his game to beat Andrey Golubev.
The Russian did take a while to get into the swing of the game and will have to go out strong against Golubev because he likes to get the early matches.
Russia were in some trouble in the second set of the doubles allowing Germany to get back into the match before Andreev was able to get the duo over the line.
Golubev will be a challenge for Andreev as the Kazakhstani will be hungry for the win after his straight set loss to Andy Murray. The Kazak is yet to taste victory this year and was so close to snatching the mixed doubles win from Great Britain, but fell agonisingly short in the third set tie-breaker.
Kazakhstan will need to win all three matches to keep their Final dreams alive, while Russia will have to take the advantage over Group B leaders Great Britain.
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