Alex Bogomolov Jr. triumphs over Filippo Volandri; advances into quarterfinals – UNICEF Open 2011
American Alex Bogomolov Jr. eased past a former top twenty-five player, Italian Filippo Volandri in straight sets at UNICEF Open 2011, an ATP grass court event held in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. He warded off early hindrance
to register a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory over the 29-year-old Italian to advance into the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
80th ranked Bogomolov Jr. downs 84th ranked Italian in almost one and half hour on their first meeting to book a last eight spot.
The Miami resident made a thunderous start at this Wimbledon warm-up tournament and confidently held his serve in the first game of the opening set. He smoothly bagged his following serves but lost his last serve in the eleventh
game. However, the American roared by breaking back in the very next game to extend the set to a tie-breaker. He dominated in it and fished out easy points to seal the opener with a 7-6(2) win.
28-year-old Bogomolov Jr. then raised the bar of his game in the final set and after Volandri held his serve in the first game, he unleashed a flurry of groundstrokes to reel off next three games in a row. The American kept his
spark and won last three games to clinch the set with a 6-2 score line.
Overall, the younger one clobbered a slightly higher first serve share of 66 percent as compared to Volandri’s 65 percent and registered an exceptional 74 percent win on it. To spice the set further, he saved three out of four
breakpoints conceded and converted three out of ten breakpoint chances to his advantage. Bogomolov Jr. also hammered two aces and committed only two double faults as opposed to Italian’s eight.
Up next for the American is the winner of the match between third seeded Belgian Xavier Malisse and Dutch wild card entrant, Jesse Huta Galung. The seed slaughtered Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla with a breadstick to reach
this spot while the Dutch triumphed over German Julian Reister in a three set thriller at his home soil.
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