Alex Bogdanovic upsets Denis Kudla to reach quarters – JSM Challenger 2012
Great Britain’s Alex Bogdanovic dumped the third seeded local star, Denis Kudla, in straight sets at the JSM Challenger of Champaign 2012 on Wednesday. He penned down a 6-3, 6-2 victory against the local seed to secure a place in the quarter-finals at this
hard court tournament taking place from 10th to 17th November in Illinois, United States.
The British veteran brought his experience into handy and eventually carved out the victory in one hour and six minutes against Kudla. After bagging this match, Bogdanovic avenged his loss at the Charlottesville Challenger last circuit and progressed into
the quarter-finals.
The left-handed Brit made a thunderous entry at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour event. He cashed two break chances and jumped to a 4-1 lead. Despite losing his edge in the very next game, Bogdanovic broke his rival’s serve
again and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line. He dusted away four out of five breakpoints he came across and converted three out of five break chances to his advantage.
Ranked 369th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Bogdanovic perfected his game in the proceeding set. After Kudla held his serve in the fourth game, the Brit wiped out the last four games and pocketed the set with a 6-2 win.
He was never challenged with any barrier and availed half of the four break chances to achieve his goal.
The 28-year-old clobbered a lower first serve share of 64 per cent as compared to his rival’s 70 per cent and impressively marked 26 out of 32 points on it. He coughed more double faults but smashed four aces to prevail.
Next up for Bogdanovic is another local contender, Chase Buchanan. The wild card entrant trashed Tennys Sandgren in straight sets to set up this epic encounter.
The Australian challenger, John-Patrick Smith, also earned the fame later that day. He outlasted his compatriot, Chris Guccione, in a three-set thriller to progress at this event. Smith smashed 12 aces and capitalised on two out of six break chances to manipulate
a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 score line in almost two hours.
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