2011 Brisbane International: Fernando Verdasco exits while Robin Soderling and Marcos Baghdatis sail through
Entering its third day of play on Tuesday, the 2011 Brisbane International saw some surprising results. A season opener for the ATP and WTA Tours, the 2011 Brisbane International is currently being played at the Queensland Tennis
Centre.
Playing in the men’s singles draw, the seed topple of the day came in the first match when unseeded Benjamin Becker met third seed Fernando Verdasco. Meeting for the seventh time on the courts, Becker lagged in the head to head
by 2-4 although he had defeated the Spaniard in their most recent 2010 meeting in Bangkok. Continuing his Bangkok form, Becker defeated Verdasco in three sets to move ahead into the tournament.
Opening service in the opener, Becker rushed into the lead securing a breadstick win over the Spaniard. Determined to stay in the match, Verdasco bounced back in the second set though Becker followed closely at his heels. With
neither catching a break, the set went into tiebreaker. With well-placed aces and excellent returns, Verdasco was able to clinch the tiebreaker 7-2 going one each in the set score. Entering into the decider, Becker raced to a 3-0 lead before finally wrapping
up the decider with a 6-3 victory. Moving past Verdasco, Becker goes on to face Santiago Giraldo.
Delighted over his first win in the new season, Becker said, “You always want to start with a win. That’s important to a lot of people so I’m glad that I got a win today and I’m looking forward to my second round,”
Although the third seed exited the event, the top seed of the men’s singles draw sailed through into the second round as Robin Soderling won his first match in the event. The world number five Swede met much lower ranked American,
Ryan Harrison. A qualifier into the main draw, Harrison had gained acceptance after he defeated Jurgen Zopp in the qualifying finals. However, his stay in the main draw was short lived seeing he drew against the top seed.
In a match that lasted sixty-five minutes, Soderling defeated Harrison in straight sets serving eight aces, committing three double faults and losing only thirteen points on service. Soderling goes on to face Michael Berrer later
in the event.
Pleased with his victory, Soderling said, “We have been working really well. We’ve tried to add a few things to my game. I won’t be changing anything as I am playing well.”
Joining Soderling in the second round was Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis as he bounced back from being one set down to a three-setter victory.
Playing Florent Serra, Baghdatis lost the first set 3-6 and was on the verge of losing the second as well before bouncing back and clinching it 7-5. He continued his form into the decider winning it 6-4. Baghdatis served thirteen
aces and committed only two double faults to secure victory in two hours and twenty-one minutes. Next, Baghdatis goes on to face Lukasz Kubot.
Talking about his game Baghdatis said, “It was a tough because he was playing really well at the beginning and I am still jetlagged, having arrived two days ago...I think I need to play a bit more aggressive. That is the only thing
I need to work on to play better here."
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