Alex Bogomolov edges Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the round of eight – St. Petersburg Open 2011
World number 36, Alex Bogomolov of the United States, had some tough times before taking down the 48th ranked German competitor, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in the second round encounter of the St. Petersburg Open on Thursday
evening.
The contest was staged on the indoor hard courts of the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with the seventh seeded American winning in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Bogomolov toiled for two hours and
thirty minutes of play to qualify for the quarter-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament.
It was an evenly poised contest, with Kohlschreiber putting up a stiff resistance till the last moments of the matchup but finally finished on the losing side in the end. The German dropped the opener to face an early set back
in the contest but made his way right back in business after clinching the second set in an assertive fashion. The final set also went to the wire but Bogomolov nailed a crucial break of serve in the last moments of the set to come out as the winner.
The seventh seed amazingly delivered 77per cent of his serve on target and secured 50 out of 78 first serve points in the matchup, with his opponent lagging far behind at 36 points. Bogomolov registered five out of 12 break points
to drive his German out of the competition and booking a spot in the quarter-finals.
Kohlschreiber felt his first jolt in the third game of the match, when the American broke his serve to lead 3-1 early. Kohlschreiber dropped his serve again in the seventh game and registered his first break point of the match
in the very next game before submitting the first set at 4-6.
The unseeded German stung a vital break of serve in the sixth game of the following set and carried on his momentum to seal the second set at 6-3 to bring the contest on even terms. More intense tennis was witnessed in the final
set and trades of two serve breaks from each side, the scores reached 5-5. A tie breaker was about to come into play but Bogomolov’s timely serve break closed out the contest at 7-5, giving him a berth in the round of eight.
Bogomolov will face the Serbian qualifier, Dusan Lajovic, in the quarter-final clash to fight for a berth in the final four of the tournament. Lajovic claimed victory against the Israeli wildcard, Dudi Sela, in the second round
to move into the quarter-final draw.
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