According to the results of the draw, it was Nadezhda who was supposed to get the first point in the match against the first number of Spaniards Anabel Medina-Garrigues. Petrova began by giving up her pitch right away. It could well be attributed to the starting excitement, since then Nadia pulled herself together, evened the score, and then brought the set to victory - 6: 3.
The excitement seemed to be over, it was time to play. But the second set Hope started even worse than the previous one. If in the first batch she didn’t get along the pitch (about 55%), in the second batch the pitch became much better (65%), but the season of unforced errors, including five double ones, opened. Hope was inferior to 0: 3, then 1: 4, and the third set had ceased to seem like something from the category of science fiction. But, fortunately, Petrova gathered for the second time, and even how - she won five games in a row, and with them a match.
True, in the end of the second set Petrova was still a little lucky. With a score of 4, Nadezhda had a breakpoint and, accordingly, a hidden setball, which she realized with a somewhat dubious blow. The Spaniards were sure that the ball went out, and Anabel stood there. But the judge, fortunately for us, was adamant. This is not to say that this became a key moment - Nadia would still have the opportunity for a break. But not the fact that she would be able to use it. Already in the middle of the second set, Petrova began to cramp the fingers of her right hand. Then she admitted that she really wanted to finish the match in two sets, because due to convulsions, she could not guarantee victory in the third set.
However, the good thing is that it ends well. Nadezhda spent one of the worst matches in recent years and still won in two sets. It was immediately clear that the Spaniards could count on something only if our tennis players were unwell. In the first match, thank God, nothing happened.
And with Svetlana Kuznetsova everything went without a hitch. The beginning of her meeting with Lourdes Dominguez-Lino turned out to be tense: until the count of 3 girls took their pitch. But, when Sveta finally began to play in her own way and ruled out mistakes, it became impossible to stop her. The first set ended somehow unnoticed. And in the second it was even surprising that the Spaniard managed to avoid the steering wheel.
Now it remains to take tomorrow the first match - and the thing is done. The fact that the Russians will be able to win it is almost beyond doubt. The only question is which of the girls Shamil Tarpishchev will authorize to bring the coveted point. Choice: take it - I don’t want it.
And if ours does not lead tomorrow 3: 0 - it will be a real intrigue, which, perhaps, this boring match, due to its full certainty, may not be enough. The only wish is that if the Spaniards take the first point tomorrow, let them be indebted to them not for the injuries of their opponents.
Ksenia VITRYAK