Alexandr Dolgopolov sails past Filippo Volandri into the quarterfinal – Studena Croatia Open 2011
Ukrainian tennis-pro Alexandr Dolgopolov eased past Filippo Volandri of Italy 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to book his place in the quarterfinal of 2011 ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag.
Dolgopolov made a strong start as he looked in a hurry to seal the contest. The first set completely belonged to him as he looked at the top of his game. He continued to dominate his opponent in all aspects of the game in second set as well and dashed an incredible back hand winner cross court to end the match that lasted for only 55 minutes.
Looking for a place in third round the Association of Tennis Professional’s tournament, Dolgopolov adopted an aggressive approach in the match. Pushing his opponent to the baseline, he earned two straight break points in the very first game. Converting the first of them, he made his first serve break of the match. In confident mood, Dolgopolov displayed some high quality tennis throughout the set and raced to 5-1 lead with two breaks of serve. The Ukrainian had no troubles holding on to his serve game at 5-1, as he took the set score lead 1-0.
The second set also followed a pretty similar trend as the man from Italy struggled to get any sort of rhythm going in his game. Dolgopolov, on the other hand, grabbed opportunities with both hands. He showed great clay court skills and executed his shots to perfection. Breaking the serve twice, the 22-year-old Dolgopolov put himself in the driving seat. Forcing an error from his opponent, he completed his emphatic straight sets victory.
Ranked 26th in the world, Alexandra Dolgopolov had a rock solid defence as he saved five out five break points in the match. He played the big points really well as he converted four out of six break points on Volandri’s serve. However, it must be highlighted that he had a horrific time with his serving throughout the match as he managed to hit only a mere 32 per cent of his first serve.
Dolgopolov has been struggling with his form since the year 2011 has started. With only 22 victories in his last 40 appearances on the tour, he will be looking to change the course of his career on the clay court of Umag. However, if he wants to make all the way to the finals, he will have to lift his game play significantly. In the quarterfinal, Dolgopolov will be taking on Spanish Albert Ramos, who battled past Gianluca Naso of Italy 6-1, 6-3.
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