Evgeny Donskoy downs Frederico Gil in quarterfinals – Sparkassen Open 2011 CH
World number 196, Evgeny Donskoy of Russia sailed past Portuguese Frederico Gil in straight sets in his quarterfinal match at the Sparkassen Open 2011 in Braunschweig, Germany on Friday. In a match that lasted a little over one
hour and forty minutes, the Russian recorded a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory against the higher ranked Portuguese.
The Russian moved into the quarterfinals after doing away with eighth-seeded Marsel Ilhan of Turkey in straight sets while Gil blasted away Julio Peralta of Chile in his second round match.
Playing for the first time in their career, Donskoy decided to serve first. Moving along on an equal footing, the Portuguese managed to keep the score tied for the first four games. However, one lucky break in the tenth game, allowed
the Russian to clinch a 6-4 win for himself in the opening set.
Taking almost half-an-hour, Donskoy capitalised on the Portuguese’s unforced errors as he combined that with his impressive first serve winning percentage of 80 percent to go one up in the set score.
The second set progressed calmly for the speedy Russian. The score met on even terms as both players remained persistent to hold their serves seemingly. A neck-and-neck fight between the two forced the set into a tiebreaker. The
hard hitting Gil rushed into a 3-1 lead which he could only extended to 6-5 after a couple of unforced errors from the Russian.
However, the 21-year-old Russian fought back hard as he reduced the deficit taking the score to a level 6-6. A blend of a well placed shots from Donskoy and an imperfect shot from Gil, allowed the Russian a 7-6(3) victory in the
tiebreaker, sealing his straight sets victory.
The Russian concluded his straight sets effort by scoring 62 percent of points on his first serve, 41 percent of points on return and a total of 77 of 149 during the process. In contrast, Gil was not too bad as he scored an acceptable
59 percent on service, but in fact his meager 38 percent on return cost him losing the match in straight sets.
With this win, the 21-year-old Donskoy has clinched a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head series against the Portuguese and now moves on ahead to face the French Stephane Robert in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Both men will battle for the first time in their career, attempting to reach the final of Sparkassen Open 2011, here at Braunschweig, Germany.
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