Alexandr Dolgopolov overcomes Philipp Kohlschreiber in round two – BNP Paribas Masters 2011
17th ranked Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov, registered a convincing victory over the German qualifier, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters, in Paris, France, on Wednesday evening.
Dolgopolov wrapped up victory in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(6), taking one hour and twenty six minutes to book a berth in the round of 16 of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 1000 event. It was his 38th
victory of the running season, with 28 defeats already to his account. Dolgopolov avenged his defeat from the German, who outplayed him in Halle earlier this season, to level the head-to-head series at 1-1.
Kohlschreiber was off to a sloppy start in the contest, dropping the opening set to fall on his back foot early but regrouped in the next set to give some tough time to the 14th seeded Ukrainian. Dolgopolov held his
nerve in the pressure situation and closed out the contest in the second set tie breaker round.
23-year-old Dolgopolov delivered just 47 per cent of his first serve on target but fired 11 thudding aces to seize some un-fought points in the matchup. He secured 27 out of 34 first serve points in the contest, with Kohlschreiber
bettering him with 31 out of his 43, but still finished on the losing side in the end. The Ukrainian converted only two of his 10 break chances and successfully defended two out of three from his opponent.
Kohlschreiber was in for an early jolt in the opening set, with Dolgopolov breaking his serve in his very first serve game to lead 3-0. The German qualifier failed to recover from the early damage done by his opponent and eventually
submitted the first set to Dolgopolov at 3-6.
The Ukrainian kept on with his impetus in the following set as well, breaking his opponent early once again to lead 3-1 but Kohlschreiber responded in the 10th game to drag the set into a tie breaker round at 6-6. The
decider also went to the wire before Dolgopolov delivered the final blow i the last minutes of the game to come out as the winner.
Much harder task waits Dolgopolov in the next round, as he will take on the fourth seed Spaniard, David Ferrer, in the third round to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters. The Spaniard registered an easy
win over the French qualifier, Nicolas Mahut, 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday to move into the round of 16.
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