Cedrik-Marcel Stebe overcomes Matthias Bachinger in Round Robin – ATP Challenger Tour Finals 2011
In the all-German affair being played in the Round Robin of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Challenger Tour Finals, the fifth seed Cedrik-Marcel Stebe outplayed seventh seeded Matthias Bachinger on Thursday night.
The aggressive German carried on his brilliant form of the season to take down Bachinger in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, keeping his chances alive for qualifying for the semis of the season ending grand finale. Stebe suffered a straight
sets defeat at the hands of Dudi Sela in his opening clash of the Round Robin but came back strongly in the Thursday’s contest to drive his fellow compatriot out of the game.
Stebe finished at number 12 in the ATP Year-to-Date Challenger Tour Rankings this season, after bagging two championship titles in Bangkok and Shanghai. The fifth seed was off to an excellent start in the contest against Bachinger
by pocketing the opening set to get the early lead. He dropped the second set after coughing some unforced errors but bounced back at Bachinger in the final set to register a convincing victory.
“I just continued working hard, with a lot of sacrifice, working on my fitness, and all that came together and made me a much better player today,” reflected the German winner. “It’s a big tournament. I hope it continues growing
with many more important players and it keeps getting better in the future. It's a great challenge.”
Fewer differences were seen between the overall match statics of the two players but Stebe’s proficiency to secure crucial points in the match proved to be the decisive factor in the end. The both contestants registered two serve
breaks apiece and clinched identical numbers of 39 first serve points in the contest.
Action took off from the very first game of the match, with Stebe breaking his opponent’s serve to seize the early advantage in the contest. Bachinger snatched the second set with successive break point conversions in sixth and
eighth game but a cracking break of serve in the seventh game of the final set proved sufficient for Stebe to close out the contest at 6-4.
Stebe will play his last Round Robin match in the Yellow Group against this year’s ATP Challenger Tour leader, second seed Rui Machado of Portugal, on Friday. Machado is leading the Yellow group with his two consecutive victories
in the Round Robin and will seek a third win over Stebe to confirm his berth in the semi-finals of the tournament.
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