Denys Molchanov retires to let Jurgen Zopp advance in the qualifiers – 2012 Brisbane International
Jurgen Zopp of Estonia fought well in the first set and was lucky enough in the second to seal the second qualifying round berth in the Brisbane International qualifiers, contested at hard courts in Brisbane, Australia. The match
lasted for an hour and eleven minutes before Molchanov injured his lower back and retired from the competition. Estonian was one set up with a cumulative score of 7-5, 4-1 at that point.
Zopp locked horns with Denys Molchanov on Saturday for the second time in his career, having defeated the Ukrainian professional in their first meeting in Samarkand Challenger last year.
Astonishing start to the match saw both players exchanging breaks upfront in the first two games but they settled down the tempo and held their serve to push the score to 5-5 without any break. The crucial break came in the eleventh
game when Zopp played a cross court backhand that landed right on top of the baseline, leaving no chance for his opponent to make a return.
With that shot, the Estonian earned the second break point and held his serve in the last game to round off the set in his favour with a final score of 7-5. The contest remained neck-to-neck in the second set also. Trailing one
set down, inferior ranked Ukrainian needed to pull up his socks and bounce back strong to push the match into third set.
Molchanov did exactly what was require of him, as he pushed up the tempo of the game and smashed couple of cracking aces in the first game that was coupled with some eye-startling down the line winners to seal the first break point
of the match. With a lead of 2-0, Ukrainian started the third game with massive confidence and continued his domination to register 3-0 lead.
There was sudden pin drop silence in the arena, as the inferior ranked competitor fell on his back and struggled to stand up on his feet. After a lengthy time out and physio’s treatment, the Ukrainian went back on the court to
finish of the proceedings but he was clearly in pain at that time. Zopp managed to held on to his serve and to his delight, Molchanov never came back to finish the leftover business.
He retired from the match and that helped his opponent to confirm his second round berth in the Brisbane qualifiers.
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