Alex Bogdanovic ousts Chase Buchanan to enter semis – JSM Challenger 2012
British contender, Alex Bogdanovic, dumped the local wild card entrant, Chase Buchanan, in straight sets at the JSM Challenger 2012 on Thursday. He juggled up a 6-4, 6-3 victory against the 21-year-old to power into the semi-finals at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event taking place in Champaign, United States.
The left-hander from Britain displayed brilliant skills to outshine Buchanan in their third meeting this season. The contestants met each other twice in July at American Futures event and after bagging this match, Bogdanovic maintained his winning record against the world number 440.
Bogdanovic made a thunderous entry at this hard court tournament. The Brit smashed powerful groundstrokes to wipe out four games in a row before Buchanan could hold on. Despite losing his serve in the sixth game, Bogdanovic held his remaining serves and eventually sealing the opener by winning six games to four. He brushed off one out of two breakpoints he faced and cashed two out of four break chances to dominate.
Ranked 369th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Bogdanovic kept momentum sailing into the following set. After Buchanan held his serve in the fifth game, the Brit unleashed his skills again and reeled off the last four games. He blocked the only breakpoint he faced to keep his entire serves and availed two out of four break opportunities.
On the whole, Bogdanovic produced a slightly higher first serve share of 66 per cent as compared to his rival’s 65 per cent and amazingly marked 30 out of 40 points on it. He smashed only a single ace but managed to close out the match with 66 points.
Next challenge for Bogdanovic is the seventh seed, Jack Sock, who recorded a 2-1 retirement victory against top seeded Michael Russell to set up this battle.
Rhyne Williams will accompany the Brit in the final four. He fended off early resistance to outclass fourth seeded Ryan Sweeting in straight sets in one hour and 32 minutes. Williams was never challenged with any breakpoint and cashed two out of three break chances to formulate a 7-6(4), 6-2 score line.
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