Alexandr Dolgopolov battles past Andres Seppi into the round of 16 – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Alexandr Dolgopolov, seeded 16th in the draw, came back from a one-set deficit to outlast 32 ranked, Andreas Seppi, 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 in the second round at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Wednesday. It took the Ukrainian two hours and 14 minutes to overthrow Seppi out of the tournament.
Dolgopolov drew the first blood, as he broke the Italian in the second game of the first set to attain a 2-0 lead. Seppi struck back immediately, clinching two in a row to even out the score at 2-2. The remainder of the set went with the serve, levelling it at 6-6 and forcing a tie-breaker. Seppi snatched a late mini-break and capitalised on it to win 7-6(5).
The Italian delivered one ace and 61 percent of the first serves, converting 17 of the 25 points on them. On the other hand, Dolgopolov smacked in a couple of aces but he lost the advantage by committing three double faults. The Ukrainian could not convert two of the three break points he received and failed to save one four he faced in the opener.
Seppi and Dolgopolov broke each other twice in the first six games of the second set and squared off the score at 3-3. They did not lose their serve in the following six to even it out at 6-6 and take it to a tie-breaker. Dolgopolov grabbed four of the last points, closing it 7-6(5).
The Ukrainian banged in five aces but also committed two double faults. He grabbed 11 of the 19 points first deliveries and second returns in the second set.
In the decider, both players held their serve in the first five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of Dolgopolov. The Ukrainian hit a blow to Seppi in the sixth and consolidated on it to build a 5-2 lead. Dolgopolov made the most of his advantage and closed it 6-3.
The 23-year-old drastically improve his serve in the final set, bombarding eight aces on his opponent and capturing 14 of the 17 first delivery points. Dolgopolov also did quite well on the second serves and returns, as he clinched eight of the 14 and five of the eight points on them respectively. The Ukrainian put away both break points he came across and availed one of the three chances he created.
Dolgopolov is drawn to meet fourth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, in the third round.
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