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It might have taken Sara Errani a few years to get where she is today, but her opening round at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, South Carolina was a winner over Eugenie Bouchard 6-4, 6-4. The first set could have went either way as Bouchard put away several shots on Errani, trying to create consistency, but as the games were 3-all, Errani started mixing up shots, playing strategically enough pushing Bouchard back, coming in and cross courting her to win the point.
There were many equal rallies but it was Errani who came up with more winners, despite Bouchard's occasional winning shots. It wasn't long before the Italian doubles specialist had won the set, 6-4 in just over 40 minutes never losing her zest for fighting every point as she did over Bouchard in finding the open court at the beginning of set two.
It was visible that the Canadian was struggling to maintain some aggression over Errani, but it wasn't working and the second set the Italian refused to let down and worked her tennis on the defensive as well as offensive to win the match 6-4, 6-4.
As Sara Errani entered the interview stand at the Volvo Open she commented on how she might have won her opening round saying "Now I try to play more matches...to play my game". She's been quite relaxed playing her game with great focus over Bouchard.
But things didn't go exactly that way back in August of last year as she had found out the results of a routine, random drug testing that proved positive; a drug basically used as a cancer medicine but also a body enhancer.
Errani had explained to the ITF that it was inadvertently ingested by her when her mother was preparing dinner and the pill fell into the sauce. As a result she was suspended from playing for two months, lost rankings points and prize monies earned between February and June.
she had also been plagued by leg injuries before the Volvo Open, but was fortunate enough to win the Indian Wells 125K-The Oracle Challenger and says that playing the event "It gave me a lot of confidence...it's always nice to win".
Sara Errani, winner of 9 WTA singles and 27 doubles titles along with three years abo helping Italy to win the Fed Cup is defiant and a crafty player who never gives up unless absolutely necessary. She will be prepared to play the 2nd round in Charleston opposite Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu.