Augustin Gensse battles past Michael Linzer into the last four – ARAD Challenger 2012
France’s 150th ranked, Augustin Gensse, came back from a deficit of one set, outlasting world number 282, Michael Linzer, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals at the ARAD Challenger in Romania on Friday. It took the French
contestant two hours and 37 minutes to prevail over his Austrian rival.
Linzer was the first to take lead, as he broke the Frenchman in the opening game of the match to go up 1-0 but he could not consolidate on it, losing his following serve and levelling the score at 1-1. The Austrian struck again
in the third and this time he consolidated on it to build a 3-1 lead. Linzer captured three of the following four games to seal it 6-2.
The Austrian smacked a single ace but also made the same number of double fault. The 22-year-old had a low first serve percentage of 43, claiming seven of the nine points on them. Linzer was flawless on the second returns, as he
pocketed all the five points.
Gensse went ahead in the second set from its beginning, as he snatched a break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Linzer hit back in the third one and held his subsequent serve to draw level at 2-2. They swapped a break in
the following two games and took the score to 3-3. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Linzer could not hold his serve and lost it 4-6.
The Frenchman hit 59 percent of the first serves and clinched 11 of the 20 points on them in the second set. He also fared satisfactorily on the second deliveries, as he secured eight of the 14 points. The right-hander saved two
of the four break points he faced and converted three of the seven he received.
Gensse and Linzer stared the decider by winning their opening serves to even out the proceedings at 1-1. They broke each other in the next two and took the score to 2-2. Gensse captured five of the following seven games to seal
it 6-3.
The French player will face Facundo Bagnis of Argentina in the semi-finals.
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