Brian Baker edges past Mikhail Kukushkin into the semi-finals – Open de Nice Côte d'Azur
World number 216, Brian Baker of USA, continued with his amazing run, as he made another upset by beating 55th ranked, Mikhail Kukushkin, in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the quarter-final at the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur n France
on Thursday. Baker won the tough contest after a battle of two hours and 16 minutes.
The American and Kazakh swapped a break of serve in the opening two games to equalise the score at 1-1. Kukushkin struck in the seventh game and capitalised on it to capture it 6-4.
The 24-year-old fired three aces and 69 percent of the first serves in the opener, sealing 13 of the 18 points on them. The Astana, Kazakhstan resident was unable to save the only break point he faced but succeeded in converting
the two he received.
Baker did not lose hope after losing the first set and came roaring in the second. The American snatched a break in the second game and held his following serve to race to a 3-0 lead. The 27-year-old sustained his advantage till
the end, winning it 6-3.
The 6ft 3in tall banged in a single ace and did not commit any double fault in the second set. He delivered 66 percent of the first serves and converted 14 of the 21 of them into points. The American gave an average performance
on the returns to his opponent’s deliveries, grabbing five of the 15 first and four of the eight second reply points.
Baker and Kukushkin lost their serve twice in the first eight games of the deciding set, squaring off the score at 4-4. The subsequent four games went with serve to take it to 6-6, forcing a tie-breaker. Baker got off to a 2-0
lead and made the most of it to triumph 7-6(4).
The American was the weaker player in almost all departments of the game but he performed better on the second deliveries and returns, as he pocketed 10 of the 19 and 10 of the 18 points on them respectively.
After the match, he said, "Right now, I'm thinking about how I'm going to recover and play tomorrow. It hasn't quite sunk in yet, but when I get back to the hotel room, I'm sure there will be a lot of people calling me. I knew
I was in the quarters and had a good win last night. I felt like if I kept on playing my game, I'd have a chance to win."
Baker will lock horns with former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko, in the semis.
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