Ernests Gulbis trounces Somdev Devvarman in the first round – Erste Bank Open 2012
Ranked 159th in the ATP World Tour Ranking, Ernests Gulbis, confidently journeyed into the second round after defeating the Indian professional, Somdev Devvarman, at the Erste Bank Open 2012, held at Vienna in Austria.
He collected his straight sets win at 7-6(6), 6-3, in nearly one hour and 43 minutes on Wednesday.
The right-hander Latvian professional displayed a sloppy start in the initial set and was unable to sustain his serve earlier on. Devvarman made a clever move and nudged up to attain the first two games, engraving a 2-love lead.
However, Gulbis picked up pace and cashed his rival’s serve in the very next game to secure the lead with a strong conviction. After that point, both of the players successively plucked all the games one after the other. The players were unable to attain their
required serve break and crossed down the score line after every successive game. The higher-ranked Latvian participant jumped forward and terminated the opener with a 7-6(6), after a highly competitive tiebreaker round.
For the initial part of the second set, the game progressed in a similar fashion and the scores evened out to 2-all in the fourth game. The Latvian participant attained his desired lead in the sixth game and stamped a 4-2 score.
His Indian opponent reacted aggressively and dissolved his challenger’s serve in the sequent game. However, Gulbis secured his former lead and this time his comeback was much effective. Displaying his superb skills, he unleashed his fury to pull out of the
decider with a 6-3 win.
The 27-year-old Indian had 63 percent initial serve precision with 11 of 19 first and four of 11 second delivery points. The Latvian participant manifested 64 percent first serve, bagging home 13 of 18 first and five of 10 second
serve points, with two of eight break points.
For the next round of the ATP World Tour 250 Event, the Latvian will have to face a tough battle against the Serbian senior, Janko Tipsarevic.
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