Petrova Edges Bovina in All-Russian Match

In a second-round match which pitted two Russians, fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova held serve when she needed to and defeated compatriot Elena Bovina, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to the third round of the Acura Classic.

Under partly cloudy skies on Stadium Court at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Petrova won the first set handily in 47 minutes.

In the second set, she was on serve with Bovina until the seventh game when Bovina opened the game with a double fault and would go on to drop serve to make the score 4-3 in Petrova’s favor.

Serving for a 5-3 lead, Petrova faced a break point, but she put away an easy forehand at the net after a weak service return from Bovina and won the game two points later.

Bovina served to stay in the match at 3-5 and began the game with a double fault, but won the next four points to win the game.

Petrova served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but at 30-30 she netted a forehand and then hit a cross court backhand wide to give Bovina the service break.

Fans cheered for Bovina who was serving at 5-5, as they wanted the match to extend to a third set. However, she lost the first three points to fall behind 0-40. Petrova squandered two break points, but on the third break opportunity, she hit a sizzling backhand down the line service return winner to break Bovina and take a 6-5 lead.

Petrova, who could not serve the match out on her previous serve, was not about to let it happen again as she slammed a 112 mph serve for an ace in the second point of the game to take a 30-0 lead.

At 30-30, Petrova reached her first match point when she hit a backhand down the line winner for a 40-30 lead. The match, which took 1 hour and 25 minutes, ended on the next point as Bovina hit her forehand service return long.

• Petrova is ranked ninth in the world.
• Petrova advances to the third round where she will meet the winner of the Alona Bondarenko / Katarina Srebotnik match.
• Petrova now leads Bovina 4-2 in career head-to-head meetings.
• Petrova is a two-time singles semifinalist at Roland Garros.
• Petrova is making her sixth main draw appearance at the Acrua Classic. She reached the quarterfinals in 2003.
• Petrova has represented Russia in the Olympics and Fed Cup play.
• Bovina was making her fourth Acura Classic appearance.
• Bovina is coming back after suffering from shoulder injuries for much of the past two years.
• Bovina has represented Russia in Fed Cup play.
• Bovina reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 US Open.

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