2011 Brisbane International: Radek Stepanek overpowers Florian Mayer in straight sets
The 32-year-old Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic won his quarterfinal match at the 2011 Brisbane International men’s singles tournament on Friday. The right hander got the better of his German foe Florian Mayer in two sets to confirm
his spot in the final four round. The score line was 6-3, 6-3.
The confident Stepanek after the match reflected, “I was facing a break point so that was a little bit of an up and down game but I was able to hold my serve and then I had 100 percent control of the whole match and I did not let
him come back.”
Radek has so far reached the title battle in Brisbane on two occasions in a row in his career, back in 2009 and last year. The Czech once again is just a single victory short of advancing into his third consecutive Brisbane final
on the tour.
The right hander, who made his debut on the ATP tour back in 1996, last year in Brisbane played as the defending champion. He did well to reach the title battle before losing at the hands of Andy Roddick from the United States
of America in two sets. The final match score was 6–7(2), 6–7(7).
In his today’s match against Mayer; the Monte Carlo resident converted a total of four out of his thirteen break point opportunities to emerge victorious in the end. He dropped his serve only on a single occasion while making his
way into the final four round in Brisbane.
Stepanek, who achieved his career best ranking of world number eight in the South African Airways ATP list back in 2006, is currently placed at number 62 in the world. He is now looking to jump inside the top 50 and a title victory
or at least a runner-up performance in Brisbane will surely help him achieve his goal in the near future.
While commenting on his success rate at the Brisbane International, the Czech added, “For the last two years I came prepared pretty well after a very hard off-season, hard work, and it’s paying off and I am glad that it is going
this way.”
He will take on Robin Soderling in the semifinal round on Saturday. Soderling made his way into the final four round after getting the better of Matthew Ebden, a qualifier from Australia.
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