Di Wu battles past Kamil Capkovic into the semi-finals – Karshi Challenger 2012
Ranked 227th in the world, Di Wu of China beat the world number 245 from Slovakia, Kamil Capkovic, in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Karshi Challenger in Uzbekistan on Thursday.
The Chinese player took one hour and 15 minutes to undo his opponent in a closely contested match.
Wu made the best possible start, nailing a breakthrough in the second game and holding his following serve to go up 3-0. The Chinese contestant struck again in the sixth and capitalised on the double break to win 6-1.
The 20-year-old fired three aces but his first serve percentage was below average at 55. Wu had a decent conversion rate, as he sealed nine of the 11 first and seven of the nine second delivery points.
The Chinese player hit a blow to Capkovic in the very first game of the second set and won his subsequent serve to move ahead 2-0 but his Slovakian rival did not take much time to equalise the score at 2-2. Capkovic snatched another
break in the eighth and consolidated on it to triumph 6-3.
The Slovakian participant pounded four aces and made two double faults in the second set. The 6ft 6in tall gave a good showing on the first serves and second returns, pocketing 11 of the 15 and three of the six points on them respectively.
Both players found it difficult to hold their serves in the decider, as there were seven breaks out of the total nine games. Wu grabbed four of those seven to capture the final set 6-3.
The Chinese contestant banged in a couple of aces and committed the same number of double faults. On the other hand, Capkovic did not hit any ace and made five horrible ones. The Slovakian player kept his first serve percentage
at just 59, losing nine of the 16 points on them. The 26-year-old failed to save the two break points he faced and could not convert four of the seven he received in the decider.
Wu is slated to take on Belarusian player, Dzmitry Zhyrmont, in the semi-finals.
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