Daniel Brands edges past Matthias Bachinger to clinch title win – IPP Open 2011
In an epic final showdown between two equally matched Germans, Daniel Brands tumbled over Matthias Bachinger in two sets tiebreaker at the IPP Open 2011, an ATP Challenger Tour event taking place on the indoor hard courts in Helsinki,
Finland. He dominated in the tie-breakers to register a 7-6(2), 7-6(5) victory over his countryman to lift the title on Sunday.
Currently ranked at 110th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Brands outmuscled his compatriot, ranked sixteen places above him, in straight sets on their third Challenger Tour meeting. It required
the winning German one hour and forty-six minutes to not only overpower Bachinger but to also maintain his winning record against the losing German.
24-year-old Brands thundered into the Finn hard court and got the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. Despite squandering his edge in the very next game, he maintained consistency in remaining games and took
the set to a tie-breaker. The German dominated in it and clinched the opener with a 7-6(2) win.
The booming Brands carried his momentum in the final set. He blasted angled shots and amazing forehands to quickly swipe in entire serves. However, the lower ranked German failed to convert any breakpoint opportunity and dragged
the set to a tie-breaker. Brands prevailed in it and pocketed the set with a 7-6(5) score line.
Overall, Brands spilled more errors and double faults but clobbered a higher first serve share of 75 percent as opposed to Bachinger’s 54 percent. He also registered an impressive 66 percent win on it. In addition to this, the
German warded off eleven out of twelve breakpoints came across and capitalised on one out of four breakpoint chances to his advantage. His total service points winning percentage of 65 percent was also plausible and he smacked six aces, putting a cherry on
the match.
A former world number 66, Brands displayed exceptional skills this season. He made a final showing at Heilbronn Challenger (lost to his compatriot Bastian Knittel) in January. The German, however, fell to an eleven match losing
streak but snapped out at Oberstaufen Challenger in July. His new strategy led him grab his maiden year-to-date title after he stunned sixth seeded Andreas Beck in the title-round. Brands run of form continued in other tournaments he participated as he made
semi-final berths at Ljubljana and Eckental Challenger and at Vienna ATP event before entering this tournament in full confidence.
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