Edouard Roger-Vasselin shocks Alexandr Dolgopolov to enter quarters – Kremlin Cup 2012
French qualifier, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, stunned top seed, Alexandr Dolgopolov, in a three-set thriller at the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow 2012 on Thursday. He summed up a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(6) victory against the 23-year-old to power into the final eight
at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 Series event held in Moscow, Russia.
The French veteran saved four match points to jolt down Dolgopolov in their first encounter. After registering success in two hours and 23 minutes, Roger-Vasselin edged in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head Series by 1-0 against the Kiev native and progressed into
the quarter-finals at this indoor hard court event.
"Sometimes you win after saving match points and sometimes you lose after having match points. That's tennis," Roger-Vasselin commented in a post match press conference. "He probably made a couple of errors on those points so I got a bit lucky today. I also
beat [Andy] Roddick this year after saving a match point (at The Queen’s Club), but I have lost quite a few matches from match point up."
Roger-Vasselin comfortably entered the Olympic Stadium. He smoothly bagged his entire serves after dusting away both breakpoints he faced. The French got the breakthrough in the eighth game and pulled out the opener with a 6-3 score line.
The world number 21 unveiled his class in the following set. He suffered the first shock in the third game and trailed at 1-2. However, Dolgopolov not only recovered in the very next game but kept remaining serves to stay in contention. He cashed another
break chance in the last game and clicked the equaliser with a 7-5 win.
Ranked 116th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Roger-Vasselin sought his early momentum and ascendency in the deciding set. He swiftly bagged his entire serves after blocking both breakpoints he faced. However, the French failed
to seek any break opportunity and took the set to a tie-breaker. He dominated in it and clinched the decider with a 7-6(6) score line.
Next in line for Roger-Vasselin is the Croatian star, Ivo Karlovic, who dumped the local challenger, Alex Bogomolov Jr., in straight sets to reach this spot.
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