Eduardo Schwank downs Dudi Sela to reach round two – Serbia Open 2012
Argentinean qualifier, Eduardo Schwank, outmuscled the Israeli ace, Dudi Sela, in straight sets at the Serbia Open 2012 on Tuesday. He brushed off late resistance to register a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory against the world number 63 in
the opening round at this red clay court event taking place from 28th April to 6th May in Belgrade.
Schwank got the better of the Israeli tennis star in almost two hours in their first outing. Battling each other for the first time, the Argentinean comfortably advanced into the pre-quarters round at this ATP (Association of Tennis
Professionals) World Tour 250 series event.
The 26-year-old made a poor start at the SRPC Milan Gale Muškatirović and suffered the first blow in the opening game. Apart from recovering in the very next game, the Argentinean gifted away his serve again to trail at 1-2. However,
he unleashed his flurry of groundstrokes after that and stroke out the proceeding five games in a row. Schwank superbly warded off eight out of nine breakpoints he faced and capitalised on three out of four break opportunities to seal the opening set by winning
six games to two.
Ranked 179th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Schwank kept momentum floating into the second set and earned the coveted break in the second game to jump to a 2-0 lead. In spite of losing his edge in the very
next game and gifting away his serve in the seventh game, the Argentinean remained focused and recovered in the 10th game. He held his serve once more and dragged the set to the tie-breaker. Schwank eased past the Israeli in it and clinched the set with a
7-6(2) score line.
Overall, the Argentinean clobbered a better first serve share of 60 per cent as compared to his rival’s 56 per cent and amazingly availed 31 out of 49 points on it. He also committed fewer double faults and cashed in five out of
seven break opportunities to earn the glory.
Next up for Schwank is the eighth seed, Gilles Muller, who battled past Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko in a three-set thriller to occupy this position.
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