Benjamin Becker bounces back to rock Laurynas Grigelis in second round – Ortisei Challenger 2011
German Benjamin Becker bounced back to rock Lithuanian Laurynas Gregilis in the second round of Ortisei Challenger, contested in Italy. Match lasted for an hour and fifty-two minutes and ended up with a score of 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
It was a traditional start to the first set as both players held on to their serves and kept the score board ticking. Score moved to 2-2 without any drama but in the fifth game of the first set Lithuanian struck some successive
fierce aces that rocked the crowd and pushed up the momentum; he pressurized his opponent and crowd was backing him up for his onslaught that ended up with the first break of the set in the fifth game for Gregilis.
Becker had the head-to-head lead of 1-0 before this match but his inferior ranking and dismal form were hinting one-sided encounter in favour of Gregilis. First set firmed their beliefs even further but who knew that there was
a major turnaround and an upset in the making.
No more breaks were shared by anyone in the first set that left Becker trailing one set down. Second set also started another blunder by the German who lost the first game on his serve and trailed with a score of 2-0 in the second
set. He tried to pull one break to level the score and his struggle proved worthy when he clinched a crucial breakpoint in the sixth game of the set and levelled the score at 3-3.
Both players held on to their serves for the remaining games of the set and pushed the score to 6-6 and enforced the first tie-breaker to decide the set. Becker held his nerves and forced his opponent to commit a childish mistake
as he struck a straight forward volley straight into the net. Victory for German in the second set enforced the third set to decide the match between the two players.
It was a cautious start to the third set as both players held on to their serves and didn’t commit any unforced errors during the first few games. As score moved on, pressure build up and both players became over cautious and sometimes
lacked aggression that could have won them some crucial points.
In the fifth game of the set Gregilis tried to deceive his opponent with his guile and played a poorly placed drop shot that resulted in a break for his opponent. Becker didn’t make any mistake to capitalize on this advantage and
held on to that lead till the end.
Benjamin Becker moves into the last eight and faces top seed Philip Petzschner in his next match.
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