David Nalbandian crushes Ivan Dodig in 2nd round – Rakuten Open 2011
David Nalbandian, Argentine world No.64, went off outgunning the higher ranked Croatian, Ivan Dodig, world No.35, as they clashed out for the second round match of the Rakuten Open 2011. Playing at the Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan,
today, Thursday, 6th October, the 29-year-old bombarded his rival beating him 7-6(2), 6-2, in an hour and 54 minutes match to walk on into the quarter-finals.
Despite the disparity in ranking, Nalbandian, the former world No.3, hampered the 26-year-old Croatian with sheer perfection. Although the two broke each frequently, world No.64 capitalized and took away a stunner.
With the two entering the court waving to the cheer of the fans, Dodig won the serve and went down serving out the first game of the match, 1-0. Nalbandian served next winning 3 game points and levelled up the score, 1-1. Breaking
the world N0.35, the 29-year-old did take the lead, however, was broken back shortly as Dodig broke back next, 2-2.
Rallying out a game each, 3-3, Dodig served next for game 7 but could not captivate a win and lost his serve. with the argentine lead 3-4, he extended his lead serving out game 8 and switched the serve to his counterpart, 3-5.
Cutting down the lead to 4-5, Dodig broke back and levelled up the scores at 5-5.
Flaring up, the two rivals levelled again at 6-6 and followed on to settle the tiebreaker. Serving first Dodig launched the attack with vicious forehands; however, the Argentine had his concrete defence working out for him. Overpowering
the Croatian world No. 35, 7-2, Nalbandian rushed away with the first set winning 7-6(2).
Moving on with the second set, the 29-year-old served the starter and almost gave away a breakpoint, 1-0. Dodig did the same, however, manage to save his serve and level the scores, 1-1. Using the best weapons in his arsenal Nalbandian
served-n-broke the 26-year-old to lead the set 3-1.
Extending his lead to 4-1 winning game 5, the Argentine went unstoppable. Breaking the higher ranked challenger for the 2nd time in the set, Nalbandian swirled away to a 5-1 lead before the Croatian struck back breaking
and cutting down the lead to 2-5.
Hoping to further cut down the lead, Dodig served out game 8, however, failed to pull back any more games, and lost. Breaking again, the 29-year-old thrashed the world No.35 in the final game winning the set 6-2, and the match
in straight set.
Predicted to win the match Dodig went down crashing against the former world No.3. Anyhow, winning the 2nd round, the world No.64 now moves on to the quarter-final round of the ATP Tour 500. Nalbandian will now battle
out against world No.4 and the second seed of the event, Andy Murray, for the semis position.
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