Bernard Tomic edges past Viktor Troicki into second round – Rakuten Open 2011
Australian Bernard Tomic upset fifth seeded Serb Viktor Troicki in straight sets at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2011, an ATP World Tour 500 series event held on the outdoor hard courts in Tokyo, Japan. He fended
off late resistances in both sets to register a 7-6(6), 7-6(1) victory over the world number 16, Troicki to advance into the second round on Tuesday.
18-year-old Aussie displayed awe-inspiring skills to stun Troicki at the Ariake Coliseum in Koto. Tomic not only avenge his defeat at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells earlier this season but also square the head-to-head
scores by 1-1 against the Serb.
Ranked 58th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Tomic rushed into the opening set and smoothly bagged entire serves to level the scores till he got the first blood in the eleventh game. However, he
couldn’t maintain the lead and lost his serve and the set subsequently went to a tie-breaker where Tomic prevailed to clinch the opener with a 7-6(6) win. The Aussie fended off four out of five breakpoints faced and converted one out of three breakpoint opportunities
to his advantage.
The high flying Aussie kept momentum rolling into the final set. He easily chipped in entire serves without facing any breakpoint. In addition to this, he founded three breakpoint chances but failed to convert any to his advantage.
As a result, the set went to the tie-breaker again. The Aussie dominated throughout the tie-breaker to seal the set with a 7-6(1) victory.
Overall, the teenager formulated a higher first serve share of 71 percent as compared to the Serb’s 59 percent. He also registered a spectacular 77 percent win on it and had a higher return points winning percentage.
Tomic will move ahead to face the Japanese wild card entrant, Tatsuma Ito who battled past Israeli qualifier Dudi Sela in a three setter nail biter match to reach this spot.
A local tennis star, Ito saved three out of seven breakpoints came across and converted five out of fifteen breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to seal the victory with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 score line in two hours and eleven minutes.
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