Andreas Seppi edges past Vasek Pospisil into second round – St. Petersburg Open 2011
In an enthralling opening round matchup at the St. Petersburg Open, world number 52, Andreas Seppi of Italy, registered a convincing victory against the Canadian qualifier, Vasek Pospisil, on Wednesday evening.
The unseeded Italian wrapped up victory in straight set, 7-5, 7-6(4), taking two hours to make it to the second round of the APT (Association of Tennis professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The contest was staged on the indoor hard courts of Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with the two players exhibiting a brilliant display of quality tennis. Seppi played aggressive tennis throughout the competition and cashed in most of his opportunities to come out as the winner.
The Canadian qualifier registered three convincing victories in the qualifying draw of the tournament to enter the main rounds but failed to take down his opening round competitor on Wednesday. Pospisil remained very competitive till the last moment but the 21-year-old was outplayed by Seppi’s pin-point power hitting in the matchup.
It was 21st victory for the Italian in running ATP season and the first one against Pospisil in singles encounters. The Canadian posed some serious resistance in the second set but was outdone eventually by the brilliance of his Italian competitor.
27-year-old Italian veteran delivered 57 per cent of his serve on target to clinch 37 out of 50 first serve points in the matchup, while Pospisil followed him with 28 out of 39 points to finish on the losing side in the end. Seppi converted three of his five break opportunities in the contest and the Canadian registered two serve breaks in the entire matchup.
Pospisil suffered his first blow in the seventh game of the day when Seppi broke his serve for the first time but the Canadian retaliated immediately to bring the scores back on even terms at 4-4. The opener was heading towards a tie breaker round but a timely serve break from Seppi closed out the set in his favour at 7-5.
An early trade of serve breaks was witnessed in the following set, followed by a regular game to take the set into a tie breaker round. Pospisil fought valiantly to remain alive in the competition but Seppi took him down in the decider to close out the contest at 7-6(4).
Seppi will next face the unseeded local contestant, Igor Andreev, for a place in the semis of the St. Petersburg Open. Andreev stunned the sixth seeded Spaniard, Marcel Granollers, in the opening round to book a battle with Seppi in the round of 16.
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