2010 Bank Austria Tennis Trophy: Saturday Singles Review
Four professionals took to the courts on Saturday to battle it out for a spot in the final. In decisive matches that followed, interesting results were seen on the scoreboard.
The first match of the day was a seeded battle between, top seeded local Jurgen Melzer and third seed Spanish Nicolas Almagro. Looking to get a chance to defend his title, Melzer brought his A game to the court. Melzer has been
very lucky throughout the tournament, having played only one match and ending up in the semis. Melzer received a walk over into the semis after his quarterfinal opponent pulled out of the match due to an injury. Almagro, however, had to fight his way to the
finals. He defeated Argentinean Juan Ignacio in the three set quarterfinal match to advance to the semis.
Even though Almagro served five aces in the first set, he could not take the lead. Melzer lost only one point on service in the whole set. Maintaining his lead, Melzer bagged an easy first set win. However, the second set was not
so easy for the local. At one point in the game, Melzer was trailing 1-4 to Almagro; however, he managed to turn that round and reeling in five straight games he managed another set win. The final match score was 6-4, 6-4.
Melzer had this to say after the match, “I think I played a good match. I was very solid throughout the first set and then I was a break down in the second set, suffering a little bit from an elbow injury, but came back strong
and I think I deserved to win in two [sets]. I am really pumped for the final tomorrow. The crowd was amazing today and going into the final tomorrow hopefully there will be a lot of people.”
The second semi final was played between lucky loser and local, Andreas Haider-Maurer and German Michael Berrer. Maurer ousted second seed, Croat Marin Cilic by a straight set win in the quarterfinal match. Berrer also knocked
out a seeded player in the quarterfinal to make it into the semi finals. Pitted against fourth seed Marcos Baghdatis, Berrer managed a tight win over him to advance in the tournament.
As Maurer and Berrer took to the courts, it was evident that both professionals were trying their level best to take an edge over their opponent. The first two sets went into tie break with one win each. The first set was a close
win for Maurer as he managed a one point win taking the score to 7-6(6). Both players were neck to neck in the second set as well; however, Berrer managed a straight clear cut win in the tie breaker. The second set score was 6-7(1). In the decider set, Maurer
managed to break service decisively in the sixth game, sealing his victory in two hours and twenty nine minutes. The final match score was 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-3.
Maurer was extremely ecstatic over his victory and is reported to have said, “It’s a dream to come through. It’s my absolute biggest victory and I’m very happy that I won this match. Against Berrer it was very tough, and I’m happy
to play the final against Jurgen . Jurgen is No. 12 in the world, No. 1 in Austria, for me it’s a pleasure to play against him and I hope it’s a great match tomorrow. Maybe I can make this sensation perfect.”
Maurer faces Melzer in the final on Sunday, where the latter looks to defend his title while the former bids to be the first lucky loser this year to win a title.
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