Bastian Knittel, Federico Del Bonis advance into final qualies – Mercedes Cup 2011
Playing at the TC Weissenhof Court, Stuttgart, Bastian Knittel and Federico Del Bonis made their appearances in the 2ndqualifiers against Jaan-Frederik Brunken and Elmar Ejupovic respectively. Both matches were played
on classic clay courts. The Mercedes Cup, apart from the prize money, adds an incentive worth the competition as the winner drives off swinging the keys of a brand new Mercedes Benz.
Mercedes Cup is categorized as an ATP World Tour 250. Historically, the Spaniards and the Argentineans have ruled the cup 7 out of the 8 times combined.
Ranked at world No.184, Bastian Knittel played his qualifying second round match against 21-year-old Jaan-Frederik. Currently at world No. 554, Frederik has yet to prove himself in the world rankings. The match was a close call
for the world No. 184 as the young German gave his fellow countryman a tough win.
Serving for the first game of the match, Brunken served one ace and lost eight points in first return against Bastian. Winning 22 service and fourteen return points, Brunken could only succeed in winning 36 points as he lost the
set 5-7 to Bastian who secured a 1-0 lead with a total of 41 points including 27 service and fourteen return points.
Knittel also won the second match as the world No.554 struggled to make his mark in the qualifier. Succeeding to win only 55 percent points of his 1st serves and 23 percent on his second, Brunken did not have much to
resist to. Knittel made it look pretty much as an easy prey in the second set as he won 72 percent of the 1st serve points securing a total of 43 points to a 6-4 victory ending the match at 7-5, 6-4.
Following Knittel was the qualifier played between Argentine Federico Del Bonis and Bosnian Elmar Ejupovic. The Argentine is currently ranked as the world No.240 while Elmar does not rank in the ATP world ranking at the moment.
The match was an easy win for the Argentine. Demonstrating his expertise to the youngster, Federico snatched an easy win over the unranked Bosnian to clear it to the third round of the qualifiers 6-3, 6-4. Federico will now face
Bastian Knittel in the next qualifier round of the Mercedes Cup 2011.
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