Brian Baker crushes Donald Young to enter main draw – China Open 2012
Qualifying top seed, Brian Baker, stomped over his compatriot, Donald Young, with a breadstick at the China Open 2012 on Saturday. He nudged up a 6-3, 6-1 victory against the world number 158 to charge into the main draw at this ATP World Tour 500 Series event taking place in Beijing, China.
The higher seed showed his true colours and triumphed over his left-handed compatriot in almost an hour. As a result, Baker comfortably secured a place in the first round at this outdoor hard court event taking place from 30th September to 7th October.
Baker thundered into the National Tennis Center. He jumped to a 3-0 lead with two breaks of serve. Despite losing his serve in the fourth game, the American veteran stayed calm and kept his remaining serves with self-assurance. He capitalised on another break chance in the last game and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Ranked 62nd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Baker perfected his game in the proceeding set. He leaped to a 3-0 lead with a break of serve. After Young plucked his serve in the fourth game, the higher ranked American unleashed his skills again and eventually sealed the set with a breadstick. He swiped his entire serves without encountering any barrier and cashed in half of the four break chances to earn the fame.
The 27-year-old recorded impressive stats throughout the battle. He smacked four aces and despite producing a lower first serve share of 55 per cent as compared to his rival’s 70 per cent, Baker clicked 17 out of 22 points on it to prevail. He also sought 14 break chances and finished the match with 62 points.
Baker will face off the South African number one, Kevin Anderson, in the opening round.
Seeded second in the qualifying competition, Matthew Ebden from Australia also stole the limelight later that day. He superbly defended all three breakpoints he came across to keep his entire serves. The Aussie capitalised on three out of five break chances to formulate a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Czech Republic’s Jan Mertl.
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